


A College Journey

by dragonomix



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonomix/pseuds/dragonomix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nezumi and Shion are randomly assigned to be roommates in their first year of college. Their first meeting goes pretty roughly, but romance soon develops between them. But will it be able to last through the tough times ahead of them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving In and Meeting the Roommate

**Author's Note:**

> (( i am bad at writing descriptions and coming up with chapter titles so i apologize for that but i promise other than those things the writing should be good thank you so much for reading! this is my first fic on here so im a bit nervous but i hope everyone enjoys it! ))

“Wow, Nezumi! Look at the campus! Isn’t it splendid?” Rikiga called from the driver’s seat of the car. A duffel bag was buckled into the passenger’s seat and Nezumi, a lanky and rather surly 18 year old, sat in the backseat of the sedan with the rest of his luggage. He hadn’t wanted Rikiga to take him to college for move-in day, but Nezumi was a freshman, and freshmen weren’t allowed to have cars, so he had needed someone to take him. Rikiga had volunteered. So, here they were, pulling into a visitor’s parking spot on campus in front of the dorm building he would be spending the next year in. “Well, the drive wasn’t too bad, was it?” Rikiga said cheerily, turning the car off and stretching as he climbed out. It was a wonder how he could fit his large body into such a compact car. “Come on, Nezumi, let’s go! Don’t you want to meet your roommate?”

Nezumi sighed and clambered out of the car, pulling his smaller bags out with him. “Yeah, super pumped,” he said, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice. Rikiga ignored his attitude and went around to the other side of the car, grabbing the duffel bag out of the passenger’s seat. Nezumi tried to grab it from him. “I can carry it; you can go. Thanks for the ride.”

Rikiga pulled the bag out of Nezumi’s reach. “Ah ah ah! I want to meet your roommate and see your dorm as well, so I’m not going yet.” This was partly true, but a big part of it was that he knew it would piss off Nezumi if he stayed longer.

“Ugh, whatever. It says my room is…” Nezumi checked the email on his phone that detailed where his room was and who he was rooming with. “Third floor of the Apis building, room number 6.” He scrolled down, admitting to himself he was slightly - only slightly - interested in who he’d be spending the year with. “Shion Kazuki,” he muttered the name to himself. Nezumi had only known one other person who was going to this college, and he knew for a fact that that person did not want to room with him, so when he had to pick a roommate, he chose to do random assignment. He figured that, since he didn’t really talk to people that much and he figured he’d spend most of his time studying or reading alone, it didn’t really matter who he roomed with. All he wanted was a roommate who would leave him alone.

Rikiga’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Well, here we are!” he boomed. “Room number 6!” The large man bounded into the room, eagerly viewing the bare dorm walls, desks, and beds. Nezumi walked in behind him, glancing quickly around the room from underneath his long bangs. He realized a second before Rikiga did that the room was not, in fact, completely empty.

“Oh, hello! You must be Shion’s roommate!” A woman who looked to be about thirty but was probably actually closer to 40 was smiling at Nezumi and Rikiga. Beside her stood a short, thin, very strange-looking boy. Before Nezumi could process what exactly he was seeing, Rikiga’s loud voice replied to the woman.

“Yes, this is Nezumi! He will be living here as well and -” Suddenly Rikiga stopped, his eyes widening in shock. “Wait...It can’t be...K- Karan?!”

The woman - Shion’s mother, Nezumi supposed - gasped. “Rikiga?!” The shocked looks on Rikiga’s and Karan’s faces turned into smiles and they hugged like two old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Which is what they were. “It’s been - oh, how many years?” Karan said, her eyes a little bit wet.

“Oh, I don’t know, but Karan, whether it’s been twenty or fifty years, you look as beautiful as ever,” Rikiga said.

 _Smooth, as always_ , Nezumi thought, rolling his eyes. He took the opportunity of the two friends catching up to inspect his new roommate, Shion, a little more closely. He certainly was a strange-looking guy. He was shorter than Nezumi by several inches, and was rather thin and not very muscular. _Probably a nerdy kid_ , Nezumi thought. What was weird, though, was that Shion had white hair. Not like patches of it that some kids get due to stress - no, his entire head of hair was white. Nezumi saw that his eyes were also red, and would have thought him to be an albino except that his skin was much too tan for that. _Maybe he dyes his hair?_ Nezumi thought. _And wears colored contacts? Why though?_ Additionally, he seemed to have a strange kind of scar on his face and neck. Nezumi wasn’t sure what kind of scar it was though - he had seen his fair share of burns and knife scars, and this didn’t look like either.

After watching his mother talk and laugh with Rikiga for a bit, Shion turned his gaze to Nezumi and caught him staring at him. Nezumi looked away quickly, hoping it hadn’t seemed like he was staring at Shion. He started walking around the room, putting his bags on one side, silently claiming it to be his half of the room. He wondered if Shion was watching him like he had been inspecting Shion - if Shion was looking at his long black hair pulled into a messy ponytail, his bangs obscuring his face; if Shion was looking at his eyes and thinking that it was weird that they were such a dull grey color; if Shion was - Nezumi shook his head. _Why do I care if that kid is watching me? It’s not like I care what he thinks._ Nezumi pushed all thoughts out of his mind and just worked on unpacking, humming quietly to himself as he worked. He stayed in his own little world until he heard his name being called by, of course, Rikiga’s booming voice.

“Oh yeah, this is Nezumi! He’s not my kid, but I drove him out here since freshmen can’t have cars. I’ve known him for a while; when he moved to the town I live in, he didn’t have anywhere to live and he didn’t have a job, so I set him up with a place to stay and some people who needed work. I’ve been his, ah, benefactor, you could say, ever since then!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nezumi.” The woman - Karan - was smiling at him. “I’m sure you’ll love your life here. I hope you can get along well with Shion - although I don’t doubt that you two will be fast friends.”

Nezumi nodded, giving the woman a polite smile. He was also sure that he and Shion would get along well - as long as Shion left him alone.

“Alright, well, I believe it is time for me to head out,” Rikiga said, checking his watch. _Finally_ , Nezumi thought. “Would you like to walk out with me, Karan?” Rikiga asked.

Karan glanced at Shion, who had started unpacking as well, and nodded. “It is time for me to say goodbye as well.” She turned to Shion and they hugged. “Goodbye, Shion. I love you very much! Make sure to call me sometimes! Get plenty of sleep, eat enough food, and make sure you stay on top of your schoolwork! Oh, but don’t forget to have fun too!”

Shion laughed. “I know, Mom, I know. I’ll be good. I’ll call you when I can.”

Rikiga turned to Nezumi. “Bye kid,” he said gruffly, trying to hide his wet eyes behind his curt voice. “Do well in school. Remember, I’m putting you up for this, so -”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t fail out, don’t get expelled, et cetera et cetera,” Nezumi said. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for the ride. See you.”

And with those two very different goodbyes, Rikiga and Karan left the room and, subsequently, the campus, leaving the two very different boys to unpack and get to know each other. It was like leaving a time bomb and expecting it to explode into flowers and butterflies.

The two new roommates continued unpacking. It was quiet in the small dorm room, the only noise the sounds of clothes and various school supplies being pulled out of duffel bags. Nezumi was glad for the quiet. Shion, on the other hand, tried to make conversation.

“So, Nezumi, where are you from? I mean, how far do you live from here? It took me and my mom about...three hours to get here. Was it a long drive for you?”

Nezumi kept unpacking, his back to Shion. _Shut up, kid. Let me unpack in peace_ , he thought. All he said was, “It was an hour and a half for us.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad at all! So, what made you want to go here? If you don’t mind my asking.”

 _Oh. My. God. Stop talking to me._ “I dunno. I just liked it.”

“Oh, okay...Well, for me, I just love the mountains - the air is so cool and fresh up here, you know? And this school has a really good science program, so that’s awesome, because I want to major in some kind of science, but I’m not sure what yet. Maybe biology? I’m not sure what I want to do though. I’ve been thinking about maybe being a doctor, but I really want to do research as well, and I’m not sure how much research doctors get to do, and -”

_Oh my God stop talking kid. He’s just prattling on and on about what he’s gonna do in his future. I don’t give a fuck what you’re gonna do. Just shut the fuck up and let me set up my part of the room. This year is seriously gonna be hell._

“...Nezumi?”

 _Shit he said something to me._ “What?”

“Um, I asked if you knew what you wanted to study…”

“Oh. Um, I’m not totally sure. I have to take the required freshman classes this semester so I really only have time for one extra class.”

“What did you pick for your extra class?”

“Uh, theatre.”

“Ooh, that sounds interesting! What class do you have for your freshman colloquium? And when do you have Humanities? I placed out of some of the freshman classes, so those would be the only two we might have together.”

 _God forbid I have a class with this kid._ “My colloquium is like a biology class I think, like Biology 110 or something. I have to take it if I want to take animal science. And my Humanities class is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11.” _Please don’t have a class with me please don’t have a class with me please don’t -_

Shion’s eyes lit up. “My colloquium is biology too! And I have my Humanities class at the same time! I bet we’re in those classes together! Oh man, that’s so exciting! We can do projects together, and study together, and -”

Nezumi stood up and looked over his shoulder at Shion. “Kid. Please. Shut. Up.”

Shion stopped, surprised. “What -”

“Stop talking to me. I’m not your best friend all of a sudden just because we’re roommates. You’re being really annoying. I don’t give a damn about what you want to do with your life, I don’t want to do projects or whatever the fuck with you. I just want to unpack my shit in quiet. So stop talking. Please.” Nezumi turned away from Shion and continued to unpack his stuff, folding his clothes and slipping them into the drawers below his desk space.

Shion had, apparently, been shocked into silence, which was fine with Nezumi. He felt a little bad about being so rude to the kid, but at the same time it had worked and gotten him to stop fucking talking. They both finished unpacking in complete silence, and when they were done Shion quietly announced to the room in general that he was going to go walk his class schedule. The door clicked behind him, and Nezumi was alone in the dorm room.

He sighed, feeling a bit guilty about how he’d spoken to Shion. He really shouldn't've been so mean, but he was just being so annoying. Nezumi sighed. _I guess I’ll apologize to him later_ , he thought. _For now I’m gonna go get dinner._

Later that evening, after both boys had gotten dinner alone, they were reclining in their room. Nezumi lay on his bed, lofted above his desk and drawers, reading an old battered copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Shion was sitting up on his lower bed, which sat next to his desk and drawers, poring over his Biology textbook. The two hadn’t spoken since the earlier events of the day. Nezumi was slightly uncomfortable with the silence, conscious that he was the cause of it.

He cleared his throat. “So, uh, I guess we didn’t get off on the right foot earlier today…”

Shion didn’t look up from his textbook.

Nezumi sighed and put his book down. “Look, I’m...sorry about what I said earlier. I’d had a long day, and I just kind of snapped.”

Shion’s strange red eyes met Nezumi’s grey ones over the top of his book. “It’s fine. I was overly excited. I get that I was being kind of a nuisance.” He paused, thinking. “Wanna have a fresh start?”

Nezumi nodded. “Sounds good to me. We’ve got Humanities tomorrow at 11, right?”

“Yeah. Want to just grab lunch afterwards?”

“Sure.” Nezumi thought that maybe he’d judged this kid wrong at first. He didn’t seem too bad now. Then again, Shion was reading a textbook for fun and had just used the word ‘nuisance’ in a sentence like it wasn’t weird. Oh well. “You ready for lights out?”

Shion nodded. “I’ll get the switch, I’m closer.” He hit the lights, and they both went to sleep pretty quickly, tired from a stressful move-in day and nervous about classes the next day.


	2. Shared Classes, Shared Room

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEE-

Nezumi slammed his hand down unnecessarily hard on his alarm clock. He groaned, rolling over and cracking open his eyes to see if Shion was already awake. He wasn’t surprised to see the little nerd already dressed and packing up his backpack for class.

“Nezumi!” Shion called when he saw that Nezumi was awake. “We have class in fifteen minutes! Hurry up so we’re not late!”

Nezumi groaned again, stretching into a sitting position. “Yeah yeah. I’ll be ready on time.”

Shion huffed and went into the shared bathroom to finish getting ready for the day while Nezumi climbed down from his bed and got dressed. A few minutes later, Shion was rushing out of the bathroom, fussing at Nezumi to hurry up. “We’re going to be late for class on our first day! We only have ten minutes until class starts and you’re barely...even...dressed…” Shion’s cheeks turned red as he realized Nezumi only had pants on. “Um, I’m gonna wait for you outside!”

“You really don’t have to...okay. That was weird,” Nezumi said as the door slammed behind Shion. He finished getting dressed and grabbed his backpack, then left the room to find Shion standing outside the door. “Uh, hey. You...okay?”

Shion blushed again. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go to class. We only have 7 minutes!” The two boys took off for their Humanities class.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, that was super boring,” Nezumi said as he and Shion walked out of Humanities.

“Well, I mean, it’s the first class period. It’s just syllabus week, you know? So we aren’t doing anything yet. I’m sure it’ll be a really interesting class once it gets started,” Shion said, trying to sound enthusiastic about it.

Nezumi raised his eyebrows, giving Shion an incredulous look. “Sure. Anyways, want to go get lunch at the caf?”

Shion nodded. “I didn’t have breakfast this morning, so I’m starving.”

“Me too.” The two walked to the cafeteria together mostly in silence. Neither really knew what to say to the other. They entered the caf and looked up at the menu. “Looks like burgers and fries today. Sounds good,” Nezumi said.

“Where do you want to sit?” Shion asked after they had filled their plates.

“I don’t really care. Wherever.”

 _He really doesn’t make it easy to talk to him, does he?_ Shion thought. He spied a small table near a window and pointed it out. “How about there?”

Nezumi shrugged. The two boys headed over to the table and sat across from each other. They began eating in silence. _This is super awkward_ , Nezumi thought. _Why did I agree to get lunch with this kid?_

“So, um...do you have any other classes for today?” Shion said in between bites of burger.

“Yeah. I have English at 4. You?”

Shion nodded. “I’ve got Physics at 3. We probably won’t really be doing anything though. Just getting our syllabus and going over it.”

Nezumi noticed that Shion seemed kind of down about this fact. “You really love school, don’t you?”

Shion looked embarrassed. “Yeah? So?”

Nezumi tried not to smile at Shion’s indignance. “Nothing, I just...It’s interesting. Not a lot of people I know really like school so much.”

 _He thinks I’m interesting?_ Shion felt his cheeks get hot. “Oh, well...Thanks, I guess. So, what about you? You’re not the type of guy I would think does theatre.”

Now it was Nezumi’s turn to feel indignant. “What is that supposed to mean? What ‘kind of guy’ do I look like to you then?”

“No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way! I just meant, like, you seem more tough and, I don’t know, closed off from people. I wouldn’t really expect someone like that to enjoy being in plays.”

“Oh. Well.” Nezumi didn’t know what to say to that. _Has he really been paying that much attention to me? To how I act? Why?_ “Theatre lets me open up more I guess. It’s fun, and I don’t have to be myself.”

Shion nodded. “That makes sense. Sometimes it’s nice to escape from reality and into something else.”

“What do you to do get away?” Nezumi found himself more intrigued in his strange roommate than he thought he would be - and more than he would ever admit.

Shion smiled. “Well, to be honest, I’m very fond of video games. You know, we should play some sometime! I know they have a lot in the game room in the student union.”

Nezumi smirked. “I don’t know if you want to challenge me in a game. I’m pretty fucking good at Super Smash Bros, you know.”

Shion laughed. “Hah, we’ll see. I bet I could kick your ass in Smash.”

Nezumi grinned. “Oh, it is so on. Are you done eating?”

“Yep.”

“Then let’s go!”

“Oh, you want a showdown right now?”

“Hell yeah!”

“All right! It’s on!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi stared at the TV screen in disbelief. He lost? He lost. He lost?! “This isn’t fair. I demand a rematch! I haven’t played in a long time.”

Shion smirked. “You’re just being a sore loser. I won, and you’re mad about it. Right?”

“No! It’s been awhile for me. I’m out of practice! One more go!”

“Fine. One more time. Winner takes all.” Shion brought them back to the character selection screen. “Pick your fighter.”

Nezumi scrutinized the list of characters. He normally tried to play as a different person each time, but this time...he knew he needed to play as his main. It was the only way he could possibly beat Shion. “I choose...Peach.” The Wii controller ‘binged’ as Nezumi selected the blonde princess. “You won’t get any mercy from me this time, Shion.”

“Hah! When this is over, I won’t be the one needing mercy, Nezumi,” Shion replied. “You will face the wrath of Luigi...and You. Will. Suffer.” Another ‘bing’ sounded as Shion selected the skinny, green-clad Italian man.

Another fight ended, and Nezumi once again sat staring at the screen in defeat. “I don’t understand? I always win when I play as Peach…”

“You haven’t played me before, that’s why,” Shion replied. “It’s ok. I’m sure with practice you can get better.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be able to beat me in a real fight,” Nezumi shot back, and quickly leapt over to Shion, knocking the Wii controller out of his hand and pinning him to the ground in one smooth movement. “See? I can hold you down with one hand.”

Nezumi was sitting on Shion, straddling him and holding his arms above his head. Shion let out a small gasp, caught off guard by Nezumi’s sudden attack. Once he processed what had happened - and saw Nezumi’s face so close above his - Shion’s cheeks burned hot and his heart started beating quickly. _What...what is this? Why do I feel like this?_ Shion thought. “O- okay, you win. C- can you get off me now?”

Nezumi let go of Shion’s arms and moved off of him, returning to where he had been sitting before. “So, do you want to play something else? I’m pretty good at Mario Kart.” Nezumi kept talking as if nothing had happened, but made sure to hide his shaking hands so Shion couldn’t see them. _What just happened? Why did I do that? What the hell is wrong with me?!_

“Um, s- sure. Mario Kart sounds good to me.” Shion’s blush was receding slowly, although he still felt a bit flustered about what had just happened. He popped the Super Smash Bros disc out of the Wii and put Mario Kart in. “Alright, I’m gonna crush you in racing too, now,” Shion said, trying to distract himself from his thoughts.

“Hmm, maybe,” Nezumi said. “But I doubt it.” Nezumi gripped the Wii controller, trying to steady his hands. Why was he so bothered by what he had done? He was just joking around, trying to mess with his roommate. Nothing wrong with that, right? _Is that really all it was, though?_ a small part of his mind questioned him. He shook his head. “Let’s race.”

The boys were evenly matched in racing, both winning and losing some rounds. In the end, they tied with 4 wins each. “Good game,” Shion said, slightly out of breath.

“Oh, are you done? Too tired to race again?” Nezumi teased, also panting a bit.

Shion shook his head. “I would love to continue and prove that I can kick your ass, but I’ve got class in about twenty minutes and I want to get there early.”

“Of course, I should’ve guessed. After all, you are a nerd,” Nezumi sighed. He laughed as Shion protested, claiming he ‘wasn’t a nerd’ and ‘enjoyed school as much as any other person.’

“Well, anyways,” Shion said, “I’ve got to head out to class. And don’t you forget that you have class in an hour as well!”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t forget. Thanks, Mom,” Nezumi said as Shion stood up and grabbed his bag. “I’ll see you around 5:30 after my class.”

“See you.” Shion left the game room. Nezumi stood up and stretched, his fingers stiff from playing the Wii for so long. _I guess I should head back to the room and read or something until my class_ , Nezumi thought.

Back in the dorm room, Nezumi reclined on his bed, trying to continue reading Hamlet. He put the book down when he realized that he had read the same sentence three times in a row. “Why am I so distracted right now?” he asked himself. _You know why_ , a part of him spoke up. _It’s because of what happened with Shion earlier. You know...in the game room? When you were on top of him?_ Nezumi shook his head. “It was a joke. It wasn’t anything else. I was just kidding around with him.” He recalled what had happened, thinking about how close he had been to Shion; his hand wrapped around Shion’s; their noses almost touching; the red tinge on shion’s cheeks that perfectly complimented his round red eyes -

“What the hell am I thinking?!” Nezumi sat up abruptly, trying to pull himself out of his thoughts. “I barely know this kid, and I don’t even know if I’d consider him my friend yet! Why am I thinking about him so much? And like...that?! What the fuck is going on…” Nezumi ran his fingers through his hair, trying to sort out his thoughts.

His eyes drifted to the clock near the head of his bed. “It’s 3:55, huh...Shion’s still in class...Wait! Shit, it’s 3:55?! I have class in five minutes!” He clambered down from his bed, almost forgetting to grab his backpack before he rushed out of the room and ran to his class.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi walked back into the dorm room at 5:23 and tossed his backpack next to his desk. Shion was at his desk, leafing through a thick book and jotting down notes in a notebook. “Starting early on homework, I guess?” Nezumi asked, plopping down into his own desk chair.

Shion jumped at the sound of Nezumi’s voice. “Oh, hey, yeah. Just taking some notes. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. I uh, I get kind of absorbed when I’m reading,” Shion said with an embarrassed sort of laugh.

 _Aw, that’s cute. I mean, wait, no, what?!_ Nezumi was surprised at his own thoughts and almost forgot to reply. “Oh, uh, yeah that’s cool. I mean, um, I get that.”

Shion looked at Nezumi with concern written on his face. “Hey, you feeling ok? Did English class get to you?”

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine. Want to go get dinner?” Nezumi inadvertently held his breath, as if he was worried Shion might say no.

“Yeah sure! I’ve been working for a while, so it’d be good for me to take a break. Besides, I’m getting pretty hungry. It’s been awhile since lunch, right?” Shion smiled and stood up from his desk. “Let’s go!”

“Yeah...let’s.” Nezumi and Shion walked side by side to the caf, Shion happy at the prospect of food, and Nezumi confused and deep in thought, trying to figure out what he was feeling and thinking. He hadn’t ever felt this unsure or...strange around anyone before. He didn’t know what it was, or why he was feeling this way. What was it that this kid did that made him act all weird and...out of character?

“Hey, Nezumi?”

“Hmm? What? Sorry, I was thinking…” _Shit, he was talking to me and I spaced out again!_

“It’s ok. But are you sure you’re alright? You seem a bit...off.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. So, do you know what’s for dinner tonight?” Nezumi tried to change the subject away from him.

“No, I forgot to check the menu. I hope it’s something good, although I’m hungry enough to eat pretty much anything,” Shion said, his strange red eyes shining brightly. Nezumi turned his face away so Shion wouldn’t see his blush.

In the caf, dinner was tacos. Shion made himself two tacos with a large heaping of rice on the side, while Nezumi just took a side serving of rice. “I’m not too hungry,” he explained. They sat at the same table again, next to the window that looked out over a decent-sized empty field that resided next to the cafeteria. “The sunset is pretty,” Nezumi said, gesturing out the window.

Shion nodded. “Yes, it’s really beautiful. I didn’t really get to see sunsets like this where I lived. The city was so big, and the buildings were so tall - basically all skyscrapers - so you could barely see the sunset or sunrise, and the stars were basically nonexistent.” Shion sighed. “It’s so nice to finally be able to see the sunset like this.”

Nezumi turned his gaze from the horizon to Shion’s face, which was tinged red and pink and orange from the glow of the setting sun. His eyes looked darker in the dusky lighting, and before Nezumi could stop himself, he thought, _Shion’s really beautiful too_. Suddenly, he blurted out, “The stars should be really easy to see here. Want to go out and look at them tonight?”

Shion looked at Nezumi in surprise and delight, and Nezumi’s heart beat faster as he saw Shion’s excited look. “I’d love to, I really would, but…” Shion sighed. “I have an eight o’clock class tomorrow, and I wanted to head to bed a little earlier tonight so I can get enough sleep.” Nezumi realized he must have looked a bit disappointed, because Shion quickly added, “But we could go tomorrow night! I know it’s supposed to be really clear again tomorrow, and I wouldn’t have to go to sleep as early.”

Nezumi smiled and nodded. “Sounds good. Tomorrow it is.” He smiled even more as Shion’s face lit up, and he hoped he wasn’t blushing. “Are you done eating?”

“Yeah. Wanna head back to the room?”

“Sure. I should get started on my reading for English, I guess. And I know you have those notes to finish.” Shion nodded, and the two left the cafeteria. Once they were back in their dorm room, both sat down at their desks and worked on their homework. After a while of reading and note-taking, Shion stood up from his desk and announced that he was going take a shower.

“Okay, cool. I’ll be here, reading this boring-ass essay,” Nezumi said.

About ten minutes later, Shion emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. “I forgot to grab my pajamas,” he explained, heading over to his bed. Nezumi noticed that the scar that began on Shion’s cheek curled around his neck wound its way around his chest as well, and disappeared into the towel. _I wonder how far down it goes?_ Nezumi mused, and upon realizing what he had just thought, turned bright red. _WHAT THE FUCK WHY WOULD I THINK THAT?!_ He turned away from Shion, relieved that his roommate hadn’t seen his flushed face.

“I’ll be out in a second,” Shion called as he reentered the bathroom to change.

“Hm,” was all Nezumi could reply. He didn’t trust himself to speak. Once Shion had reemerged, Nezumi had cooled down a bit and had also changed into his pjs - that is, a pair of sweatpants and an old T-shirt. “Ready for lights out?” he asked, once he had climbed into bed.

“Yeah.” Shion hit the light switch and the room went dark. Shion went to sleep quickly, but Nezumi lay awake for several hours, his thoughts racing. _Why am I so fucking flustered around Shion? Why do I keep thinking these weird things about him? Am I gay? And more importantly, am I gay for him?_

Questions ran round and round in Nezumi’s head until he finally fell into a restless sleep.


	3. Naps and Stars

“Nezumi? Nezumi! Wake up!”

Nezumi woke up to Shion shaking him, his face peeking over the rail that prevented Nezumi from falling off his lofted bed. “Hmm? Wha time izzit?” Nezumi mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his sandy eyes.

“It’s 10:15, you have class in fifteen minutes! You must have turned your alarm off and gone back to sleep this morning. What time did you go to sleep last night? Lucky for you, I got back from class and noticed you were still asleep. Otherwise you wouldn’t’ve made it to class,” Shion said, climbing off the chair he’d been standing on to reach Nezumi’s bed.

“Nnnn…” Nezumi groaned, slowly climbing down from his bed. He pulled off his shirt and pants, too tired to go to the bathroom to change. His eyes were still too bleary to notice the blush that rose in Shion’s cheeks when he stripped. Nezumi yawned as he pulled on a baseball tee and a pair of jeans, then grabbed his backpack and turned towards Shion. “What class am I going to again?” he asked as he pulled his hair up into a ponytail.

“U- um, theatre. You remember where it is? Are you sure you should go like this? You seem exhausted,” Shion asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I know where it is. And yeah I can make it, I’m fine. Just a little sleepy.” Nezumi meandered out of the room, yawning and stretching as he left. “I’ll see you after for lunch, ’kay?”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi met Shion at the cafeteria after he got out of his theatre class. “How was it?” Shion asked as they walked into the building. “Was it fun? What did you guys do?”

Nezumi yawned, still tired from his restless night. “It was alright. We didn’t do much, just went over the syllabus like in all the other classes. It’ll probably be fun later on, though.”

They got their food - pasta with Swedish meatballs - and sat at what they were starting to call their table. Nezumi continued to yawn while they ate, with Shion becoming increasingly concerned. “Hey, you look kind of pale and you’ve been yawning since you woke up. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

Nezumi nodded. “I’m fine. I didn’t sleep too well last night, that’s all. It’s no big - what are you doing?!”

Shion was leaning across the table, the back of his hand pressed to Nezumi’s forehead. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t have a fever,” he said. He kept his hand there for another minute or so before removing it and leaning back in his seat. “No fever. I guess you just need a nap.”

Nezumi realized he’d been holding his breath and exhaled. “Oh, uh, thanks. That’s what I figured. I’ll probably nap before my next class.”

Shion raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I know you need sleep, but I won’t be back from my class to wake you up in time for yours. Are you sure you’ll be able to make it to your class?”

Nezumi shrugged. “I mean, probably. And if I don’t, it’s not that big a deal. It’s just gonna be the syllabus stuff again.” Nezumi saw that Shion was giving him a look like _don’t you dare fucking skip if you do so help me you will be in so much fucking trouble_. He quickly followed up his previous statement with, “But I definitely won’t miss, I’ll make it to my class. I’ll, um, I’ll put my alarm clock on the other side of the room so I have to get up to turn it off. Okay?”

Shion nodded, his glare softening. “That sounds like a good plan.” He checked his watch, and when he brought his hand up Nezumi's eyes were drawn up to the scar on Shion's neck. Again, before he could stop himself, he wondered how far the scar extended on Shion’s body, and his cheeks got hot all over again. “Are you sure you’re not sick? You look really flushed now,” Shion asked.

“I’m okay, I’m fine. I uh, I just need to go sleep. You know, I’m done eating, so I’m gonna go take a nap now. See you later,” Nezumi said, and quickly left the caf before his face betrayed him any more.

“Um, okay then. See you later, I guess,” Shion said. I wonder what’s going on with him?

Shion cleaned up his place and headed out of the caf. He tried to shrug off Nezumi’s weird behavior, but for some reason just couldn’t stop thinking about his cute roommate. _Wait, cute? I didn’t think that_ , Shion thought. _Or, I didn’t meant to think that. Did I? I mean, yeah, I guess he’s pretty attractive_. Shion walked back into the dorm room, trying to sort through his thoughts. He looked up at Nezumi, asleep in his bed. _He does have a nice body. And his hair looks really soft. I like when he puts it up in a ponytail. And his eyes…_ Shion sighed, smiling to himself. “His eyes are so pretty,” he whispered.

Nezumi sighed in his sleep and rolled over and Shion’s heart sped up. _Oh God, I hope he’s not waking up. Oh good, no, he’s still asleep. I wouldn’t want to wake him_. Shion was surprised at how concerned he was for this guy he barely knew. Well, he didn’t know him really, but at the same time, he felt like he really did know him. Something just felt familiar about him. Comfortable. Safe. Shion smiled again. _Nezumi...what is it about you that makes me feel this way?_

Shion sat down to continue working on his notes. _I only have a little time before I have to head to class_ , he thought. _I wonder if Nezumi actually moved his alarm clock or if he forgot?_ He turned in his chair to look at the windowsill where Nezumi’s alarm clock usually sat. Yup. There it was. Nezumi had forgotten to move it, which meant he was probably gonna shut it off in his sleep and miss his class. Shion sighed and shook his head. “Can you do anything for yourself?” he whispered to Nezumi’s sleeping form.

Shion pulled his desk chair over to the window near the head of Nezumi’s bed. He climbed onto it and carefully reached for the alarm clock, hoping not to disturb Nezumi and wake him up. _I’ll just move it down to his desk, that way he has to get out of bed to turn it off_ , he thought.

As Shion reached for it, Nezumi rolled over again so he was facing towards Shion, who was frozen on the chair, his hands about to grab the clock. _Whew, he’s still sleeping_. Shion sighed in relief, glancing at Nezumi’s face. “Wow,” Shion whispered. He didn’t know someone could be so beautiful. Nezumi’s face was at rest, and it looked so gentle and peaceful. Nezumi’s eyelashes were long and dark, and his hair swept gracefully across his forehead and cheeks. His jaw was defined, and his lips... _They look so soft_ , Shion thought. He reached one hand out tentatively and gently brushed Nezumi’s dark bangs back from his face. _His skin is so smooth_ , Shion thought, a blush rising in his cheeks. “What am I doing?” he muttered. Nezumi sighed and readjusted his position in his sleep, and Shion quickly pulled his hand away. “The clock,” he said to himself, “that’s why I’m up here. For the clock.” He picked up the alarm clock and got off the chair, setting the clock on Nezumi’s desk. He pulled his chair back over to his own desk and grabbed his backpack. “I need to head out to class.” As he left the room, he looked over his shoulder at Nezumi and smiled. “I hope you feel better when you wake up,” he said, then headed to his class.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

At 5:15, Nezumi walked into the dorm room. “I guess you got to class alright,” Shion said from his desk.

“Heh, yeah, I did. Did you move my alarm clock? I forgot to, so I figured you did. Thanks.”

“No problem. I saw that you had forgotten and figured I might as well move it. I don’t know why I expected you to move it on your own anyways,” Shion teased.

“Hey, I was exhausted! If I hadn’t been so tired, I definitely would’ve remembered!”

“Well, if you hadn’t been so tired, you wouldn’t have needed to nap in the first place,” Shion countered. Nezumi opened his mouth to retort and then closed it again, shrugging. Shion laughed. “Want to get dinner?”

“Sure. It should be something good tonight - I heard it’s supposed to be pizza,” Nezumi said, grinning.

“I didn’t realize you liked pizza so much.”

“Yep. It’s great. Best food there is,” Nezumi said as the two headed out together. They reached the caf, got their pizza - which Nezumi was very excited about - and sat down at their table. After a few minutes, Nezumi asked, “So, we still gonna go stargazing tonight?”

Shion’s face lit up. “Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Oh man, I can’t wait! It’s gonna be so cool!”

Nezumi smiled at Shion’s excitement. “It’s pretty awesome. Let’s see, I think the best time to go would be around 9. That’s when most of the stars start coming out. It’s a good night to do it, because it’s supposed to be clear - like you said yesterday - and the moon is waning, so its light won’t block out the light of the stars.”

Shion nodded, looking like a puppy who had just been told he would get to eat bacon for a month. “That’s great. I can’t wait! I’m sure it’ll be amazing!”

The two excited boys left the cafeteria and went back to their room to work on homework until it was time to stargaze.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shion, come on, let’s go,” Nezumi said, leaning against the door to their room. “It’s 9:10. We’re already leaving later than when we said we would.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry!” Shion replied. “I just wanted to finish up this reading for Humanities tomorrow! There, I’m done. We can go now!” He followed Nezumi out to the sidewalk in front of their dorm building. “Where are we going?” he asked, but Nezumi just smiled and held his finger to his lips before walking away. Shion quickly followed the taller boy, excited and nervous - although he wasn’t sure what he was feeling nervous about.

Nezumi stopped in the field behind the cafeteria. “Here,” he said. He laid down on the grass, his hands behind his head, looking up at the darkening sky. Nezumi patted the ground next to him, motioning for Shion to lay down too. Shion did so - closer than Nezumi was expecting. His heart beat fast and he could feel the warmth from Shion’s body. He looked out the corner of his eye at the boy lying next to him. Shion’s face seemed to glow in the soft starlight, and his eyes were wide open, staring up into the sky above. He looked happy - no, ecstatic. Nezumi couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s beautiful,” Shion whispered. “You can almost see the stars growing brighter in the sky. And look! Isn’t that the Big Dipper?” Shion pointed up into the sky at a group of stars.

Nezumi leaned over and rested his hand on Shion’s raised arm, gently guiding it a bit to the left. “That’s the Big Dipper,” he said. He then led Shion’s hand to point at a few other constellations, naming each one. “There’s Cygnus, and there’s Capricornus, and there’s Aquila.” Nezumi let go of Shion’s arm, and Shion found himself wishing he hadn’t.

Shion looked over at Nezumi. “You really know a lot about stars, huh?”

Nezumi nodded, still looking up at the sky. “I lived on my own for awhile, just kind of wandering. I used the stars to find my way around. They’re always there, so I could never get lost. I could always depend on them to be there for me.” He suddenly felt awkward about sharing so much - _Shion probably doesn’t care about all that_ \- and cleared his throat. “So, uh, what do you think? Are the stars everything you thought they’d be?”

“Your eyes.”

“What?” Nezumi asked, turning to look at Shion.

Shion was staring straight into Nezumi’s eyes. “The stars remind me of your eyes. They’re beautiful, and filled with light.” Somehow, although his heart was beating faster than it ever had, Shion felt he had the courage to tell that to Nezumi.

Nezumi was quiet for a while, surprised and unsure of what to say. He turned his face from Shion, looking back up at the sky. _No one’s ever said something like that to me before_.

Suddenly Shion sat up. “I’m sorry. That was a strange thing to say. I’ll just...go now. Good night.” He began to get up to leave when Nezumi reached out and grabbed his arm.

“No, wait. It’s...okay. Stay.” Nezumi didn’t understand what he was feeling, but he knew he didn’t want Shion to leave. Shion laid down again, and both boys were quiet for a while. Finally, Nezumi said, “Thank you. No one’s ever really said anything like that to me before. I didn’t know what to say.”

Shion blushed. He hoped Nezumi couldn’t see his face in the dark. “Oh.” He mentally cursed himself. _‘Oh?’ That’s what you say in response? ‘Oh?!’ Come on_. “I just…” he trailed off.

Nezumi took a deep breath and reached his hand over and rested it on top of Shion’s. _What am I doing?_ he thought, but he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He had decided to just run with this feeling for now. Besides, Shion could always pull his hand away if he wanted to.

Shion had been surprised by Nezumi’s hand on his own, but he didn’t pull his hand away. He liked the feel of Nezumi’s hand on his own. He didn’t know what it meant for them, but all he cared about in this moment was that Nezumi left his hand there, resting gently on his. After a minute, he felt Nezumi slowly fold his fingers over Shion’s hand, and Shion wrapped his fingers around Nezumi’s hand in response. His pulse was racing, and he could feel in his hand that Nezumi’s was as well. He smiled. He hoped Nezumi was smiling too.


	4. Dogs and Nightmares

Nezumi woke up to his alarm going off. He had decided to get up a bit earlier so that he could shower this morning, and he noticed that Shion wasn’t in the room. He spied a note on his desk, saying that Shion had gone to get breakfast and would be back soon. Nezumi sighed and went to shower, recalling what had happened the night before.

The two boys had been holding hands for a while - at least five minutes - in complete silence when Shion’s phone had begun to ring. Awkwardly, they had untangled their hands, and Shion sat up and answered his phone. His mother had called, apologizing for how late it was and asking for help with the computer at home. While Shion had walked his mom through the steps of how to reconnect the wifi, Nezumi had gotten up and walked away towards the sidewalk. He had waited for Shion to get off the phone, and then Shion had joined him on the sidewalk. In silence, they had walked back to the dorm room - Nezumi’s hands shoved deep in his pockets. They had both gotten ready for bed without a word, and went to sleep without saying a thing to each other. Neither had known what to say after what had happened.

Nezumi let the warm water wash over him. _What am I doing?_ He sighed. _I hope Shion doesn’t think I’m mad at him._ He was still trying to figure out how he felt about Shion. He supposed he liked him - but he wouldn’t allow himself to think that. It wasn’t that he had a problem with being gay, it was just that he was afraid to let himself rely on anyone else. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but it was true. Nezumi had never relied on anyone other than himself, and suddenly he was having all these feelings about this boy he was living with, and he didn’t know what to do with them. _I wonder if Shion’s freaking out as much as me. Does he feel the same way? And does it bother him as much? Or does he just think of me as a close friend? I barely know anything about Shion…_ Nezumi shook his head. _This is dangerous_ , he thought.

He finished showering and stepped into the bathroom to dry off and get dressed. He could hear Shion moving around in their room and supposed he must have just gotten back from breakfast. Nezumi really didn’t want to leave the bathroom and have to face Shion, but he knew he would have to at some point, and it might as well be now. Besides, they had their first class together anyways. Dressed, refreshed, and a bit nervous, Nezumi stepped out of the bathroom.

Shion glanced up at him but didn’t say anything, just kept packing up his backpack for their Humanities class.

“Hey,” Nezumi said, trying to act like everything was normal. “How was breakfast?”

Shion shrugged. “It was good.”

“Oh. That’s good.”

Shion didn’t reply.

“So, um...d’you want to head to class?” Nezumi asked. _Shion’s mad, he’s definitely mad. Oh God. What have I done._

“Sure.” They walked to class together, a silent, awkward tension hanging over them. When they got to the classroom, which was mostly empty since they were early, Shion sat down at the desk he had sat at on Monday. Nezumi sat down next to him, with a snoozing kid with long brown hair on his other side. Both boys continued to be silent, the tension between them growing with every minute.

Finally, the classroom filled up and the teacher arrived. The kid next to Nezumi sat up and yawned, and Nezumi stared in surprise and a little bit of fear. “Inukashi?”

The dark-skinned, long-locked kid turned towards Nezumi and rolled their eyes. “Oh great, I’ve got a class with you. Ah well, at least I don’t have to live with you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Nezumi saw Shion turn towards the conversation. _He’s probably wondering who Inukashi is and how I know them. And why they said they’re happy they aren’t living with me_. “Aw, Inukashi, that’s no way to greet and old friend!” Nezumi threw his arm around the smaller kid, who struggled in vain and finally gave up. “I missed you too! And I’m sure you meant that you are devastated that you don’t have the honor of living with me,” Nezumi said dramatically, noogying his reluctant friend’s hair.

Inukashi finally wormed their way out of Nezumi’s grasp. “That is most definitely not what I meant! I pity whoever ended up living with you,” they said, rubbing their head.

The teacher cleared her throat, looking pointedly at Nezumi and Inukashi, before starting class. Inukashi glared at Nezumi, who only shrugged and made a face as if he was perfectly innocent and didn’t know what he had done wrong.

After class, Nezumi resumed talking with Inukashi - that is, he resumed teasing and poking fun at them. “Well, before the teacher cut us off,” Nezumi said, “I believe you were saying something about how you would ‘pity the person who lives with me?’”

“Yes, I was. And I’d say it again! I pity whoever has you as a room- ”

Nezumi leaned back in his chair and gestured to Shion, who was still sitting beside them. “Meet my roommate, Shion Kazuki. Shion, meet an old friend of mine, Inukashi.”

Shion, a bit confused at what was going on, extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Inukashi looked like they were going to explode. They stared at Shion’s hand but didn’t shake it. “Yeah, sure. A pleasure.”

“So, Inukashi,” Nezumi said, “I noticed you weren’t here on Monday. Skipping class on the first day of school? That’s a bad habit to get into.”

“I wasn’t skipping, I just couldn’t make it,” Inukashi protested.

“And why not?”

“I was - you know what, none of your business, that’s why!” Inukashi shoved their chair back and stood up, stomping their way out of the classroom.

“Okay, see you later!” Nezumi called after them, and laughed. “Man, it’s been so long since I’ve seen them…It’s still super easy to rile them up.”

Shion spoke for the first time since the night before. “Who was that? You said...an old friend?”

Nezumi was glad Shion was speaking to him again, but didn’t let it show on his face. He didn’t want Shion to know how he’d been feeling. “Yeah, kind of. Inukashi would probably never willingly admit that we’re friends, and honestly our history has its rough patches, but all in all, we try to help each other out as best we can. We’ve known each other for a long time...since I was on the streets.” Nezumi paused. “You want to go get lunch?”

Shion shook his head. “I’m still full from breakfast. I’ll just go back to the room. I need to make flashcards for my anatomy class.”

“Oh. Okay. Well I’m gonna head to the caf then, I’ll see you later I guess.” Nezumi watched as Shion left the classroom. Once he was out of sight, Nezumi placed his head in his hands, frustrated with himself. _Why am I feeling so awful? Ugh. What do I do about all this?_ He stood up and headed to the caf. When he got there, he saw Inukashi sitting at a table by themself, and he went to join them.

Inukashi groaned. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Nezumi smirked. “Because that wouldn’t be as fun.” He saw some people take the table he and Shion always sat at and frowned. “Actually, I have something to ask you.”

Inukashi raised their eyebrows. “You actually sounds really serious right now.” They sighed. “Okay, what is it?”

Nezumi looked out the window at the field and thought about the night before. _Everywhere I look, I think of Shion._ He sighed and turned back to Inukashi. “There’s this person,” he began.

“Oh boy,” Inukashi muttered.

“Shut up. Anyways, there’s this person, and whenever I’m around them, I get really confused and, I don’t know, I start acting weird and I lose my cool and stuff.”

“What cool?” Inukashi snickered.

“Oh shut up. Seriously, Inukashi. I don’t know what to do! I don't know why I feel so...so weird around him - I mean- ”

Inukashi grinned. “It’s your roommate, right? I heard that ‘him’ slip out.” Nezumi blushed and looked away. “I don’t know. Why are you asking me?” Inukashi sighed. “It sounds to me that you like him. He’s pretty cute. Although his eyes are kinda weird.”

Nezumi found himself wanting to defend Shion’s eyes - say that they’re perfectly fine, so what if they’re red? But then he realized what Inukashi had said. “You think I like him? As in, _like_ like him?”

“Yes, if you need to put it that way, to me it sounds like you ‘like like’ him.”

Nezumi sat still, thinking. _Do I like him? I guess it’s a possibility. No. I can’t do that. What if something happens between us? I can’t risk that. It’s too…too dangerous._

Nezumi shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

Inukashi raised an eyebrow. “Really?” They were quiet for a minute. “You know...just because you never had anyone to rely on all those years ago doesn’t mean that you won’t ever have someone to rely on...or that you don’t deserve someone to rely on.”

Nezumi looked up, surprised at how well Inukashi had been able to tell what he was thinking. _I guess they were on the streets with me for a while. We got to know each other pretty well._ Nezumi sighed, looking out at the field again. “I don’t know.”

Inukashi shrugged. “Whatever. That’s my opinion. You don’t have to listen to me, but it might be a good idea to just wait and see what happens. You know, if your feelings persist or change in the future. You don’t have to do anything now.”

“Hm.” Nezumi considered this. “Not bad advice. Thanks.”

“You're...welcome.” Inukashi was surprised at Nezumi’s sincerity. They stood up to go, but before they left, looked at Nezumi over their shoulder and said, “Good luck.”

Nezumi smiled and waved as Inukashi left. He sighed and decided to head back to the room. Shion would still be there, but hopefully it wouldn’t be so awkward now.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey,” Shion said when Nezumi walked into the dorm room. “Um, I was wondering if…” Shion took a deep breath before continuing, “if you want to talk about what happened yesterday?”

Nezumi tossed his backpack down beside his desk and climbed up into his bed with his copy of Hamlet. He shrugged. “I don’t really have anything to say.” _What the hell? Why did I say that? That’s not true at all!_

“Oh.” Shion watched Nezumi for a minute, but Nezumi refused to meet Shion’s eyes. He pretended like he was reading, his expression indifferent. “Well. I’m gonna go to the library to study then. I guess I’ll see you after class or something.”

Nezumi just grunted in response, and Shion took his backpack and left the room. Once he was alone, Nezumi tossed his book aside and laid on his back in his bed, his arms behind his head. “Ugh!” he groaned. “What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I being so...so cold-shouldered towards him? Why did I tell him I didn’t have anything to say about yesterday?! Yes I do! I have so many questions! God, what am I doing? Ugh...”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the library, Shion was attempting to study his flashcards, but it wasn’t going so well. He sighed, pushing them to the side. _I can’t get Nezumi off of my mind._ He ran his hands through his hair, trying to sort out his thoughts, when he saw someone approach him.

“Hey. You’re Nezumi’s roommate, right?” Inukashi sat themself down at the table where Shion was attempting to study.

“Uh, yeah. You’re Inukashi, right? Nezumi’s old friend.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if I’d call us friends, per se, but I have known him for a long time.”

Shion smiled, remembering what Nezumi had said: _“Inukashi would probably never willingly admit that we’re friends…”_ Then, realizing he was thinking about Nezumi yet again, he shook his head, frustrated and confused by his own thoughts. “Sorry, I’m a bit distracted.”

Inukashi shrugged. “It’s cool. Nezumi was acting weird at lunch too. I think everyone’s just a bit off today.”

“Nezumi was acting weird?” Shion asked before he could stop himself.

Inukashi tried not to smile. _Looks like we’ve got more than one lover boy here_ , they thought. “Yeah, you know, he seemed pretty distracted too. What’s bothering you? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Shion blushed and looked down at his hands, folded on top of the table. “Oh, well, I don’t know. I’m just kind of...confused, I guess, with what’s going on right now. With...with Nezumi.”

“Oh?”

Shion blushed even more. “I mean, it’s not anything like that, it’s just that, I don’t know, he seems to be really moody sometimes. Like one day he’s acting really nice and friendly but then today he’s acting all standoffish and upset and I don’t know why and I’m not sure what’s wrong- ”

“Hey, hey, I get it.” Inukashi smiled. _Oh, this is too good_. “Yeah, Nezumi can be pretty moody sometimes. But it’s usually when he’s feeling something he doesn’t totally understand. He doesn’t know how to deal with it, so he starts blocking people out until it goes away.”

Shion thought about this. “So...he’s feeling something that he doesn’t understand?” Shion thought about how they had held hands last night and wondered if Nezumi was as confused about that as he was. “Maybe that’s why…”

“Hm?”

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking to myself. Thanks for telling me that about Nezumi. I think it’ll help me know how to deal with him - you know, because I’ll be living with him. N- not because of...anything else. Um, anyways, I have to go to class now, so thanks and I’ll see you around!” Shion left the library, praying that Inukashi hadn’t seen him blushing.

Inukashi smiled to themself, thinking about the two roommates. “This will most definitely be interesting at the least.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi walked back into the dorm room at 5:30 and saw Shion working at his desk. He thought about his talk with Inukashi earlier - _“I think you like him”_ \- and turned away. “I have a lot of work to do, so you can go to dinner without me.”

“No.”

Nezumi froze, his back to Shion. _Did he just say no?_ “What?”

Shion turned to face Nezumi. “I said ‘no.’ We didn’t have lunch together today, and I want to eat dinner with you again.” _I will break you out of your walls, Nezumi._

Nezumi turned towards Shion and saw that his face was set, determined. “Oh. Uh, okay. Well, you’ll have to wait a little bit because I really need to get some of this stuff done.”

“Fine.”

 _What the fuck? Why is he being so stubborn and blunt about this?_ Nezumi turned away from Shion and sat at his desk, pulling out his notebook and starting to work on homework.

About an hour later, Nezumi leaned back from his desk and stretched. “Okay, I need to take a break from this shit. Wanna get food?”

Shion was reading in his bed. “Sure.” They walked silently to the cafeteria, Shion still looking very determined and Nezumi confused as to why Shion had been so insistent that they eat together. They sat down at their table and started eating, both very quiet, until Shion finally broke the silence.

“I want to talk about yesterday.”

Nezumi almost spat out his drink. “W- what?!”

Shion was determined. “I want to talk about what happened yesterday. Or more specifically, last night.” As if Nezumi needed a reminder of what Shion was talking about, Shion looked out the window at the field where they had stargazed.

“Um, okay. What do you want to say?”

Shion looked down at his hands. “What...what did it mean to you?”

Nezumi was quiet. He looked at Shion’s hands as well, and then down at his own. He knew Shion was asking about when they had held hands, but he didn’t know what to say. So he stupidly went with, “I don’t know. Nothing, I guess.”

Shion swallowed. It was what he had been afraid that Nezumi would say. Nothing. “Oh.”

Nezumi grimaced, immediately regretting what he had said. “No, I mean…I just- ”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shion said, standing up from the table. “It’s clearly not a big deal.” He picked up his plate and left the caf, his face red and his eyes wet.

Nezumi put his head in his hands. “God, you fucking idiot,” he said to himself. “‘Nothing?’ Are you fucking kidding me? Ugh!”

“I was thinking the same thing,” said a voice from behind him. Nezumi turned around to see Inukashi sitting alone at the table behind him. They had apparently been listening to the whole thing. “You, sir, really fucked up.”

Nezumi sighed. “I know. What do I do? How do I fix this? Help me, Inukashi.”

Inukashi just shook their head. “Sorry, Nezumi. This is your mess. You have to fix it. I can’t help you with this one.” They stood up and left the caf, leaving Nezumi alone to think.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi walked back into the dorm room at 10. Shion had already gone to sleep, so Nezumi got ready or bed quietly and climbed into his bed, using his phone’s light to read. He had decided that he would talk to Shion tomorrow. He would tell him the truth - or at least, what he understood of it. Hopefully, Shion would understand, and all would be well. And maybe…

Suddenly, Shion started tossing and turning in his bed. Nezumi looked over at him, confused since Shion was normally a deep sleeper and didn’t really move much. Shion began breathing hard, as if he was running from something or panicking. Nezumi continued to watch him, concern growing in his mind. Shion started to call out, calling for his mother, for someone named Safu, for help. Nezumi jumped down from his bed and rushed over to Shion’s. He started shaking Shion’s shoulders, trying to pull him out of his nightmare.

“Shion! Shion, wake up! It’s just a dream,” Nezumi said.

Shion’s eyes flew open, a terrified look across his face. “W- what…”

Nezumi cradled Shion’s face in his hands, forcing him to look at him. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s me, Nezumi. You’re okay, you were having a dream.”

Shion relaxed slightly in recognition of his roommate, and his breathing began to calm down some. “Nezumi…” His voice sounded weak, and it hurt Nezumi’s heart.

“Shion, it’s alright. I’m here.” Nezumi wrapped his arms around Shion and held him for a minute before letting go and stepping back from the bed. “Are you gonna be okay? Think you can go back to sleep?”

Shion’s eyes looked scared again, like a wounded animal, and he shook his head. “I don’t know...No...I don’t think so.” He was still breathing hard, and there was sweat on his forehead.

“Okay, well...Um…” Nezumi looked around, trying to figure out how he could make Shion feel better. Suddenly, he had an idea. “Do you want to spend the night in my bed? It might make you feel safer.”

Shion nodded, biting his lip. “If..if that’s okay.”

Nezumi nodded and offered his hand to help Shion out of his bed. “Come on. You need to sleep, you have an eight o’clock tomorrow.” Shion nodded and took Nezumi’s hand, climbing out of his bed and up into Nezumi’s. Nezumi followed him up into his own bed and laid down next to the white haired boy. His heart was beating fast - he could feel the warmth from Shion’s body. They were so close to each other. Shion was on his side, facing away from Nezumi. Nezumi watched Shion for a minute and realized he had gone back to sleep quickly, his breathing evening out and his brow unfurrowed. He seemed much more calm, relaxed. Nezumi smiled and turned over onto his side, facing away from Shion. He could feel the heat from Shion’s body on his back, and he thought he’d never go to sleep with how fast his heart was beating. After a couple minutes, however, Nezumi fell sound asleep as well.

Both boys slept the whole night through, deeply and undisturbed.


	5. Truths and Memories

Nezumi woke up and immediately looked at the spot next to him - which was empty. He sat up and looked around the room, spying Shion working at his desk. He smiled, realized he was smiling, and blushed. He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to get ahold of himself. He yawned, and at that Shion turned around in his chair and saw that Nezumi was awake. “Morning,” he said, before turning back to his work.

“Hey,” Nezumi said sleepily, a smile crossing his face again at Shion’s greeting. He climbed down from his bed and stretched. “Hey, Shion?”

“Hm?” Shion continued working.

“Um...I was wondering if maybe this evening we could...talk? About...last night and...the other day?” Nezumi’s heart was pounding.

Shion sat still. Nezumi knew he had stopped working. “Mm,” was all Shion said at first. After a long pause, he continued, “Are you sure? I thought it meant nothing.”

The sharpness in Shion’s voice stung Nezumi’s heart, and he felt awful all over again for what he had said. “No, I...It’s not nothing. It was dumb of me to say that. I didn’t really mean it, I just didn’t know what to say. I...I do want to talk about what happened...especially after last night.”

Shion’s shoulders were stiff, and Nezumi couldn’t imagine what he was thinking right now. Finally, Shion replied. “Fine. We can talk at dinner. For now, you should get ready for class.”

“O- okay! Sounds good! I’ll go get ready now. Want to meet at the caf at 5:00?”

Shion just shrugged and went back to work.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi stood outside the cafeteria, waiting for Shion to get there. He was early - it was only 4:45 - but he didn’t want to make Shion wait. He figured he’d been enough of an ass as it was. _I haven’t seen Shion since this morning_ , Nezumi thought. _Our schedules work out just right that the only time we’d be able to see each other is at lunch...but Shion wasn’t in the room when I got back from theatre. He must’ve been avoiding me._ Nezumi sighed. _I would be too if I was him._

Fifteen minutes later, Shion still hadn’t shown up to the caf. Nezumi anxiously checked his phone every few minutes - 5:00, 5:02, 5:05, 5:08… _Where is he?_ Nezumi thought, worried. _Is he doing this on purpose because of how I’ve been acting?_ He put his head in his hand, cursing his idiotic behavior.

“Hey.”

Nezumi looked up. Shion was standing in front of him, looking slightly to the right of Nezumi, avoiding his eyes. “Hey, Shion,” Nezumi said, relieved. “Let’s go eat.”

They walked inside the cafeteria together and took their place at their table. Nezumi looked around before sitting down, making sure Inukashi wasn’t around. He sat down across from Shion and cleared his throat, twisting his fingers nervously. “So...um, I haven’t been completely straight with you…” he started.

Shion was staring out the window. “Hm.”

Nezumi took a deep breath. “I...I don’t know how to say this really- ”

“Why not start with apologizing?” Shion interrupted.

“What- ”

“Stop. Just stop. You’ve been acting horribly towards me since the first day! You’ve been rude, and then you’re nice the next day, then you’re mean again, and then you’re nice again?! What the hell is that?! First you hold my hand, then you say it doesn’t mean anything. The next day, you ignore me, but then let me sleep in your bed? And now you want to talk to me?! Do you even understand how frustrating - how confusing - all that is?!” Shion’s hands were clenched and there were tears in the corners of his eyes. His cheeks were red and he was glaring out the window, unable to look straight at Nezumi.

Nezumi was at a loss for words. Everything Shion had said was true, and he felt awful about it. He realized that Inukashi was right - he didn’t understand what he was feeling, so he had blocked out the only person he really cared about. He realized what he had to say to Shion.

“You’re right.”

Shion looked at Nezumi, his eyes wide. “What?”

Nezumi was looking down at his hands. “You’re right. I’ve been playing with your feelings, and I haven’t been telling you the truth because...because it scares me.” He sighed. He’d said it. “It scares me to feel the way I feel, because I don’t understand it, so I tried to pretend it wasn’t there. But it didn’t work. I still feel the same, and all I’ve done is cause both of us - but especially you - pain. And I’m sorry. And...I understand if you don’t want to forgive me.”

Shion was quiet. He could tell Nezumi was being sincere, and it made him happy to hear Nezumi admit how he felt. But Shion knew he had to be sure. Absolutely, 100% sure. “Nezumi...how do you feel about me?”

Nezumi looked up at Shion to see him now looking down at his hands, his cheeks flushed. Nezumi blushed as well. _How do I feel about you? I’m not sure...No, that’s not true. Inukashi was right._ Nezumi smiled and reached across the table, resting his hand on Shion’s once again. “Shion...I like you...a lot.”

Shion smiled down at Nezumi’s hand covering his own and felt a tear slip down his cheek. “Nezumi,” he whispered, “me too.”

Nezumi smiled, his face flushing even more. He saw the tears spilling down Shion’s face and reached his hand up to Shion’s face, brushing them away. “Hey, you’re okay, right?”

Shion nodded and pressed Nezumi’s hand against his cheek. He smiled, looking up into Nezumi’s beautiful grey eyes. “I’m okay. I’m...wonderful.”

Nezumi grinned wider. “Good,” he said. “Now, I have to ask you something then. Do you want to go out with me?”

Shion nodded, still holding onto Nezumi’s hands. “Of course!”

The two finished dinner happily, laughing and talking together even after they had finished eating. Neither of them noticed when the person at a table near them stood up and left, pulling off their blonde wig as they went. Inukashi smiled to themself; everything had worked out in the end.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

That evening, Nezumi and Shion were laying in their own beds, trying to sleep but both too excited and happy to do so. “You awake?” Nezumi whispered.

“Yeah,” Shion replied.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Mmhmm.”

“What were you dreaming about when you were having that nightmare the other night?”

Shion was quiet. Finally he said, “It’s kind of a long story…”

“Oh.”

Shion felt bad since Nezumi had told him so much about his own past. He sighed. “Well, I guess it’s not that long. A few years ago, there was an epidemic in the city I lived in. A species of parasitic bees started carrying this fatal disease, and everyone who got infected aged rapidly and then died.” Shion paused. “Almost everyone.”

Nezumi was listening carefully to Shion’s story. There was something familiar about it, as if he had heard it before. “Almost?”

“Yes. There were a few survivors. A man who worked with my mother a long time ago, and…” Shion sighed. “And me. That’s why I look like this. My hair turned white, my eyes turned red, and I got this scar around my body. Luckily, it didn’t progress beyond those physical aspects before I was cured.”

Nezumi held his breath. He knew what was coming next.

“It hit me suddenly, after one of my friends was infected. I had been infected without knowing, and a few days after my friend died from the disease, I began to be affected as well. I wasn’t at home at the time; I was out at a park late at night. I wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for a stranger who happened upon me.”

_I know who that stranger was_ , Nezumi thought.

“I began to age, and the stranger saw me collapse in pain and rushed to help me. I showed him where the bee had infected me, and he cut it out. That’s why I survived.”

Nezumi exhaled. “I know.”

Shion sat up and turned towards Nezumi, his eyes searching for him in the dark. “What?”

Nezumi sat up as well, staring straight ahead, remembering Shion’s story from his own point of view. “I know what happened because...I was the stranger.”

Shion gasped. “What?” he whispered. “You were...you were the one who saved me?”

Nezumi nodded, even though he knew Shion couldn’t see him in the dark room. “Yes. I was the one who happened upon you that day. It had been dark that evening; that’s why I didn’t recognize you when I met you that first day here. But yes...that was me.”

Shion was quiet and still for several minutes. Finally, he whispered, “Thank you.”

Nezumi shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I was just doing what anyone would have done.”

“No. You saved my life. Thank you for that.”

Nezumi smiled. “You're welcome, then. Now, we should really get some sleep.” He laid back down and tried to get comfortable, a small part of him wishing he had Shion laying next to him again.

“Good night,” Shion said, and laid down as well. He rolled over to his side, missing the warmth he had shared with Nezumi the night before.


	6. Bullies and Theatre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( im so sorry /.\ i apologize in advance ))

Nezumi woke up to Shion gently shaking him. “It’s time to get up,” Shion said, giving him a peck on the cheek. They had been dating for a couple weeks now, and it had been going smoothly. They got along extremely well most of the time; sometimes Nezumi could be stubborn or jealous and would try to block Shion out again, and they would argue about it. Usually when that happened, they would work it out themselves, but sometimes they couldn’t work it out and they would go talk to Inukashi. Inukashi hated that setup, but would end up being helpful anyways.

Nezumi stretched and climbed out of bed. “Morning,” he yawned. Shion laughed and went into the bathroom to change. Nezumi changed in their room while Shion was in the bathroom and packed up his backpack for Theatre. They had been working on a play the past few classes, but Nezumi’s thoughts were mainly focused on Shion. Although they had been dating for about two weeks, they hadn’t started calling each other boyfriends yet. Nezumi wanted to ask Shion if that was okay with him, but for some reason - even though they’d been dating for a while - he was still nervous.

Shion came out of the bathroom, an ugly beanie pressed down over his hair. “Um, Shion,” Nezumi said, “what the hell is that?”

Shion blushed and looked down. “Well, I just...You know, my hair is just…”

Nezumi put down his backpack and walked over to Shion. “Did someone say something about your hair?”

Shion nodded. “A kid in my genetics class has been making comments under her breath for a while, but now I guess she’s getting more confident and she’s talking to other people in the class about it, and so more people are saying things about it, and I just…” Shion bit his lip.

“Shion.” Nezumi tipped Shion’s face up so he was looking into Nezumi’s eyes. “I don’t want you to listen to any of those kids.” He reached his other hand up and pulled the hat off of Shion’s head. “Your hair is beautiful and special and proof of something you went through that those kids couldn’t even imagine having to deal with. Don’t let them get to you, okay? I love your hair the way it is, and you should too.” Looking down into Shion’s round red eyes, Nezumi had the sudden urge to kiss him - and not just on the cheek, as they had been doing, but on the lips. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to Shion’s, lingering there for just a few seconds before pulling his head back.

Shion’s face was flushed and his eyes were still closed. He slowly opened them and looked up into Nezumi’s eyes, then blushed more and smiled. “What was that for?” he said, his voice small but happy.

Nezumi blushed. _He’s so goddamn cute._ “If those kids bother you today about your hair, think of that and it’ll make you feel better.”

Shion nodded, his smile growing wider. He hugged Nezumi tightly and then let him go, saying, “Alright, you’ve got to go to theatre now. I’ll see you after your stats class, okay?”

“Alright. Remember what I said about the kids in your genetics class, okay?” Nezumi said as he walked out the door.

“I know!” Shion called. “I don’t think I could forget,” he whispered. It had been his first kiss.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“You didn’t tell me the theatre class was putting on a play!” Shion said as soon as Nezumi walked into the dorm after his class.

“Hey, thanks for the welcome back,” he replied. “My class was great, how was yours?”

“It was fine. Now, you didn’t tell me you guys were doing a play! What play is it? When is it? I want to go see it! Ooh, do you know who you’ll be yet?”

Nezumi ignored Shion’s questions. “Did anyone in your genetics class say anything today?”

Shion sighed, exasperated. _I hate when he does this._ “Yeah, but I mostly ignored it. It didn’t bother me as much today. Thanks for that.” Shion smiled and then remembered what he had been asking before. “Hey, stop trying to change the subject! Are you or are you not putting on a play in your theatre class?”

Nezumi sighed, plopping down into his desk chair. “We are.”

Shion waited a moment, realized Nezumi wasn’t offering any more information, and pressed on. “Okay, and what show is it gonna be?”

“Hamlet.”

 _Why are you doing this right now?_ Shion thought. _You only do this when you don’t want to talk about something. Why now?_ “Cool! You should be happy, you love Shakespeare! And you just read it recently, so I bet you could get a good part since you’re probably really familiar with the story and the way they talk!”

Nezumi didn’t say anything.

Shion was frustrated. “Well? Did you try out for anyone yet? Who do you want to be?”

“I dunno.”

 _Augh, he can be so damn annoying!_ Shion sighed. “Okay then. When are you guys putting it on? I want to come see it.”

“No.” Nezumi’s voice was flat. “You can’t come see it.”

Shion was taken aback by Nezumi’s words. “What? Why not?”

“Because,” was all Nezumi said in reply.

“That’s not a good enough reason.”

“Because I don’t want you to!”

Shion stepped back from Nezumi, surprised by his raised voice. They had fought before, sure, but Nezumi had never yelled at him. He didn’t know why Nezumi was acting this way over something so trivial. Shion turned away from Nezumi, grabbed his backpack, and left the room. “I’m going to the library.”

“Wait, Shion, come back,” Nezumi called. Shion didn’t return to the room. “Shit. God damn it!” Nezumi stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over with his sudden movement. He pulled his hands through his hair. “Augh! Fuck!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion walked to the cafeteria from the library. He was planning on eating alone. He didn’t feel like he could talk to Nezumi right now. Not after he had yelled at him. “If he doesn’t want me to go see his show then he has to have an actual reason. He can’t just say he doesn’t want me to and think I’ll take that. Especially not if he yells at me,” Shion muttered.

As he entered the caf, he saw Nezumi sitting at their table with a plate of food, pushing the food around with his fork and looking around as if he was waiting for Shion. Shion sighed, wanting to join him, but remembered what had happened earlier and changed his mind. He got his food and made his way over to another table and sat with his back facing Nezumi.

A few minutes later, Inukashi sat down in front of Shion. “You know Nezumi’s right over there, right?” they said.

“Yes. I know,” Shion said stiffly.

“Oh boy. What happened now?” Inukashi asked, sighing.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Inukashi raised an eyebrow. “You know if I don’t hear it from you, I’ll hear it from him. You might as well tell me now while I’m actually semi-interested.”

“Fine,” Shion huffed. “Earlier today, I found out that the theatre classes are working together to put on a play - including Nezumi’s theatre class. So, obviously, I asked him about it and tried to figure out when it was and who he would be because I wanted to go see it.”

“And?” Inukashi asked, reaching across to Shion’s plate and eating his untouched roll.

“And he said he didn’t want me to see it. So I asked him why not, and he just said ‘because,’ as if that’s a reason at all. So I told him that that wasn’t a good reason, and he…” Shion stopped. “He yelled at me.”

Inukashi almost choked on the bread. “He WHAT?!”

“He yelled that he didn’t want me to go see his play.” Shion wiped roughly at his eyes, trying not to show how upset he was.

“He yelled at you? He _yelled_ at you? He yelled at _you_?” Inukashi was incredulous. “Sure, he’s moody and he can get mad about dumb stuff, but I don’t think he’s ever yelled before. Fought, sure. Cursed, sure. But yelled at someone?” Inukashi shook their head. “And I definitely wouldn’t expect him to yell at you, of all people. I could see him yelling at me, or maybe Rikiga, but you? No way.”

Shion shrugged. “It happened. But anyways, that’s why I’m not eating with him tonight.”

Inukashi was still thinking about what could have set Nezumi off. “The only thing I can think of is that he’s embarrassed for you to see the show. But as for why, I have no idea.” Inukashi grinned, a mischievous look on their face. “I bet can find out for you though.”

Shion considered it for a moment. It would certainly be easy for Inukashi to find out what was bothering Nezumi. _But Nezumi would probably find out that I got Inukashi to spy for me, and that would just make more problems_ , Shion thought. He sighed and shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to make the issue worse by sneaking around behind Nezumi’s back. I think this is something we have to work out for ourselves.”

Inukashi shrugged. “Whatever. Let me know if you need help with anything else. Good luck with you and Nezumi.” _I’m totally gonna spy anyways. I wanna know what Nezumi’s so afraid of_ , Inukashi thought as he left Shion’s table.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion walked into the dorm room and saw Nezumi waiting for him to come in, sitting in his chair with his arms folded, facing the door. Shion didn’t say anything. _If he wants to talk, he can start. He’s the one with the explaining to do anyways._

“So, I saw you the caf just now.”

“Yeah, and?”

“How come you didn’t want to eat with me this evening?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you yelled at me earlier?” _He is not allowed to act like he’s the victim here_ , Shion thought angrily.

Nezumi scowled. “I only yelled because you were pestering me about the stupid play!”

“Well I was only ‘pestering’ you about the stupid play because, in case you forgot, I am currently dating you and I want to participate in the things that you do!” Shion crossed his arms and faced Nezumi. He was not going to back down from this - he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Nezumi was quiet, his face getting red with frustration. “If I said I don’t want you to go, why can’t you just respect that and leave it at that?”

“I can, but I just want to know why you don’t want me to go! You didn’t give me any reason, and that doesn’t make sense to me!” Shion was exasperated. _How did we go from ‘first kiss’ this morning to a shouting match now?!_ “Ugh, look, I don’t want to fight. I just want you to give me a legitimate reason why you don’t want me to go. I don’t see how that’s such a big deal!”

Nezumi’s expression didn’t change. “Whatever. If you can’t just trust me that there is a reason I don’t want you there, then maybe this isn’t going to work.” Nezumi turned around to face his desk. “I have work I need to do.”

“Ugh, you always do this!” Shion couldn’t help it - tears started to spill out of his eyes. “You always just ignore what’s going on until someone else takes care of it for you! Either me or Inukashi fixes the problem, and you don’t have to worry about shit!” Shion caught his breath. He was mad that he was crying; it made him feel weak. But he was done with Nezumi’s shit. “I’m not dealing with this anymore.”

Nezumi heard Shion rustling around behind him but didn’t turn around till he heard the door close. Shion was gone, and it looked like he had been packing a bag. “He won’t stay gone,” Nezumi said to himself. But a part of him wasn’t so sure.


	7. Breakups and Makeups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[ just fyi, i might be wrapping this fic up soon, but im not sure if i should or not. let me know if you guys want like a loooootttttt more or what ok? i have two more chapters ready but idk how much more i will add after that. let me know what you want! :) ]]

Inukashi opened their door to see Shion standing outside holding a bag. “What’s going on? Shion?” Inukashi noticed the tear streaks on Shion’s face. “Come in,” they said, holding the door open for Shion to enter the room.

Shion entered Inukashi’s room and collapsed on the floor. “Inukashi…” Shion mumbled.

Inukashi ran over to him and knelt down in front of him. “What is it, Shion? What happened? Was it something with Nezumi?”

Shion looked up at Inukashi with tear-filled eyes. “Inukashi...can I stay here with you for a little while?”

“Uh, I…” Inukashi looked at the helpless boy sitting in front of them, tears streaking down his face. “Yeah. For a little while, at least.”

“Thank you.” Shion remained sitting on the floor, his arms curled around himself, his face buried in his knees.

Inukashi sighed. “Hey, I’m sure this will blow over like it always does. For now, why don’t you try to get some sleep? You can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the floor. I’m used to it.”

Shion climbed into Inukashi’s bed without changing and fell asleep almost right away. Inukashi sighed, shaking their head. “What am I gonna do with you two?”

Suddenly they heard a muted buzzing coming from the bag Shion had brought. Inukashi searched through it and found that the source of the buzzing was Shion’s phone - Nezumi was calling him. Inukashi sighed and thought for a minute about whether to let it ring or answer. They decided on answering. They went into the bathroom so they wouldn’t wake up Shion.

“Hello? It’s Inukashi.”

“Shion, I - Wait, Inukashi? Why do you have Shion’s phone?”

“He came here in fucking tears because of whatever the fuck happened between you two and asked to stay here for a while. I said he could. What do you want?”

“Is he there? I need to talk to him.”

“No. He’s asleep. I’m not gonna wake him up either. I don’t know what happened, but Shion seems like he just got his heart broken or some shit. You wanna tell me what you did?”

Nezumi was quiet for so long, Inukashi thought he had hung up. Finally, he spoke. “I told him I didn’t want him to come to my play. He asked why, and...I might have yelled at him.” A sigh. “We argued some more, and I told him that maybe this wasn’t going to work out.”

“You WHAT?!”

“I know, it was dumb and I regret it. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it, I was just frustrated. And now Shion’s hurt, and I’m hurt, and I just want to fix this.”

Inukashi sighed, rubbing their temple. “Ok. I’ll try to help, but this is your mess, and you’re gonna have to fix this mostly on your own. Do you want to tell me why you didn’t want Shion to see your play so badly?”

Nezumi was silent again. “It’ll be easier to show you. Can you come over real quick?”

Inukashi was confused, but Shion was asleep, so they figured they could run to Nezumi’s room real fast. They left a short note for Shion saying that they’d be back soon and then rushed over to Nezumi’s. They knocked on the door and were pulled into the room like it had to be a secret that they were even there. Inukashi turned to yell at Nezumi but was stopped short by the sight before them.

Nezumi was wearing a long, elegant baby blue dress that went all the way to the floor and had graceful, flowing sleeves. His hair was down and styled in subtle curls, and a flower crown adorned his head. He had makeup on - mascara, blush, lipstick, even a soft blue touch of eyeshadow. He was beautiful.

Inukashi, once they got over their initial surprise, was confused. “Okay, so other than to see your new look, why did you tell me to rush over here?”

Nezumi’s face went red. “B- because. This is why I don’t want Shion to see the play. We’re doing Hamlet, and I’m...I’m Ophelia.”

Inukashi raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “And…? You don’t want him to see you in a dress? Is that it? You’re embarrassed?”

Nezumi nodded, unable to meet Inukashi’s eyes.

“Are you fucking kidding me? This is why you guys are fucking breaking up or whatever?” Inukashi rolled their eyes. “Shion’s not gonna care that you’re wearing a dress or makeup or whatever! He likes you for you, not what you wear or how you look! Get over yourself!”

Nezumi looked ashamed and stared down at the floor. “I know. I...I should’ve known better but...I was just worried that he wouldn’t see me the same way…”

Inukashi grabbed Nezumi’s shoulders. “He won’t see you the same way. He’ll see you as a brave young man who felt comfortable enough with his masculinity to crossdress - and look beautiful while doing it - in a show that tons of people are going to see! He’ll be so proud of you! God, you’re seriously an idiot sometimes.” Inukashi turned from Nezumi and sighed. “So what are you gonna do about this, Nezumi?”

Nezumi sat down in his desk chair, resting his chin in his hands. “I don’t know.”

“Not acceptable. Think of something. You have to fix this.”

“I’ll apologize, for starters. And then I’ll...I’ll invite him to the play. No, I’ll beg him to come.”

Inukashi nodded. “That sounds like a good start. I’ll try to talk to Shion when he wakes up and see if he’d be willing to talk to you. It might take him a little while, you know.”

Nezumi nodded. “I know. I’ll wait for him. I’ll always wait for him.”

Inukashi smiled. “Yeah, I know you will. I’m gonna head back to my room. I’ll try to talk to Shion in the morning. See you tomorrow.” With that, Inukashi left Nezumi to be alone with his thoughts and regrets.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion woke up and stretched. “Morning, Nez- ” he began, then remembered what had happened the day before. His shoulders drooped and he mumbled out a “Morning, Inukashi” before climbing out of the bed and going into the bathroom.

Inukashi sighed, hoping to talk to Shion at lunch about if he would forgive Nezumi, and what it would take for Nezumi to redeem himself. After they had both gotten dressed and ready, they walked to Humanities, where they saw Nezumi already seated. He was staring down at his desk, but Inukashi knew he saw them when his cheeks turned pink. They looked at Shion, silently asking where he wanted to sit.

Shion’s jaw trembled a bit, but he held his head high and walked past Nezumi to a seat on the opposite side of the room. Inukashi followed him, gently patting Nezumi on the shoulder as they walked by, and sat next to Shion. They hoped they could persuade Shion to at least hear Nezumi out.

Class went by quickly, and afterwards, as Shion and Inukashi were walking past Nezumi again to leave, Nezumi stood and tried to talk to them - well, more specifically, to Shion. “H- hey, Shion. I just wanted to…” he began to say, but Shion just kept walking away as if he couldn’t hear Nezumi at all. Nezumi trailed off and sighed, his head hanging low.

“I’ll try to talk to him at lunch,” Inukashi whispered, then ran to catch up with Shion.

Shion and Inukashi sat together in silence at the cafeteria. Inukashi could tell that Shion was upset about seeing Nezumi this morning, and they almost didn’t want to bring him up, but they had told Nezumi they would try to talk to Shion about what was going on, and they kept their promises. “Uh, Shion? Can I talk to you about something?”

Shion poked at the food on his plate with his fork. “Does it have to do with Ne- with him?”

Inukashi nodded. “And I know you don’t want to talk about him but I really think we need to talk about what’s going on and- ”

“No. I don’t want to talk about it.” Shion was still staring down at his food, but his eyes looked watery and his face was flushed.

Inukashi was so done with both of these boys’ bullshit. “Well, we’re gonna talk about it whether you want to or not because you can’t keep living in my room forever.”

Shion frowned and looked like he was going to retort, then sighed and nodded. “I know. I just really don’t want to...but I guess you’re right. So, I’m assuming Nezumi talked to you at some point. What stupid excuse does he want you to tell me now?”

“Actually, he wanted me to convince you to hear him out. He wants to talk to you about what’s been going on and why he’s been acting the way he has.” _This is it!_ Inukashi thought. _If Shion agrees to talk to Nezumi, then they can work things out and go back to normal and I won’t have to deal with all this!_

Shion was quiet for a few minutes. “He wants me to talk to him, huh?” A part of him really wanted to make things right with Nezumi - he missed him a lot. But a part of him was still very mad and wanted to make Nezumi feel the hurt that he had felt - that he was still feeling. “Tell him...tell him I’ll think about it.”

Inukashi wanted to pull their hair out. These fucking boys were so frustrating! They tried to maintain their composure. “Ok, I’ll tell him. But do you know when you’ll want to talk to him?”

_Right now, I want to talk to him right now!_ part of Shion was yelling. “I’m not sure. When I feel like it, I’ll let him know.” _I’ll give him, say, a day or so. That’ll be hard for him. And if he keeps asking, then I’ll know he’s really serious about this._ Shion stood up from the table. “I have a lot of work to do before my next class, so I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you around, Inukashi.” He began to walk away from the table, then stopped and turned to face his friend. “And...thank you.” Inukashi nodded, and Shion left.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“When he feels like it?” Nezumi ran his hands through his hair. _What does that mean? How long do I have to wait?_

“That’s what he said,” Inukashi said. “He didn’t specify a time or day. I guess just wait till he talks to you.”

Nezumi sighed. “Okay. Thanks Inukashi.” They nodded and left Nezumi’s room. Nezumi collapsed into his desk chair and pulled out his phone. _Should I text him?_ he thought. _I don’t want to seem too desperate. Well, I am kinda desperate, I guess…I’ll just do it. I need to talk to him._ Nezumi created a new message:

N: Hey Shion, it’s Nezumi. I’d really like to talk to you about what happened earlier, so if you decide you want to talk, could you please let me know? It’s really important to me.

He sent it, and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, about twenty minutes later, he received a response:

S: Fine. We can talk later, after our classes are done. I’ll meet you at our room.

Nezumi sighed, relieved that Shion agreed to talk. Now he just had to figure out how to tell Shion what he wanted to say in a way that wouldn’t make Shion even more mad and that would maybe get Shion to forgive him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

At 4:30, Nezumi walked into his room and was shocked to see Shion at his desk working, as if nothing had happened. He cleared his throat. “Uh, h- hey Shion- ”

Shion cut him off. “I’m here so I can hear what you have to say. So spit it out.” His words were harsh, but his voice was shaky and he couldn’t look Nezumi in the eye.

Nezumi nodded and sat down at his own desk. “I want to start off by saying I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. It was dumb, and uncalled for, and I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry.”

Shion didn’t move or speak.

Nezumi’s heart was beating fast. _What if he doesn’t forgive me? What if I’ve done too much and we can never go back?_ He took a deep breath and continued. “The reason I didn’t want you to see me in the play is because...well, i- it’s because…” _Come on, just say it goddammit!_ “It’s because I’m playing the role of Ophelia and I’ll be cross-dressing and I didn’t want you to see me like that because it’s embarrassing and I didn’t want you to think of me differently and I’m sorry you can come see the play actually please come see the play I mean if you want to I’m sorry I’m such an idiot I understand if you don’t want to see me ever again and- ”

Shion turned to face Nezumi, trying to hold back a smile. “That’s what you were so worried about? Me seeing you cross-dressed? Nezumi…you idiot. I don’t care how you’re dressed or if you’re wearing makeup or whatever; I care about who you are, and how you treat other people and how you treat me. I’m upset that you yelled at me for no given reason. If you had just told me that you were cross-dressing and it made you uncomfortable, I would’ve understood.”

Nezumi blushed. “Well, I didn’t want to tell you because I...I was afraid you’d laugh. And I didn’t want you to think I was weird or something.”

Shion rolled his eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with cross-dressing. I wouldn’t have thought you were weird - well, not any weirder than you are already.” He smiled. “Next time, just tell me what’s going on, okay?”

Nezumi’s heart was hammering in his chest. “So you forgive me?”

Shion nodded. “Of course I forgive you- ” Before he could finish, Nezumi had run over to him and was embracing him so tightly he thought he might suffocate. He wrapped his arms around Nezumi and squeezed back. “It’s okay,” Shion said, and he felt a few hot tears fall on his neck.

“Thank you,” Nezumi whispered. “I won’t yell at you ever again. I promise.” He let go of Shion and wiped his eyes. “God, I’m such a fucking crybaby,” he muttered, embarrassed.

Shion laughed and grabbed Nezumi’s hand, then leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “No you’re not. Besides, so what? It’s okay to cry.”

Nezumi smiled and wrapped his fingers around Shion’s hand. “Thank you.” A thought came into his mind that he had never thought about anyone before - he was suddenly thinking, _I love you_. He was surprised by his own thought, and was struggling to decide if he should say it, but then Shion was asking him if he wanted to go get dinner, and he said yes, and the moment was gone.


	8. Theatre and Bullies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( sorry it took so long! here it is! ))

Nezumi woke up to his alarm and clambered out of his bed. He had just pulled on his pants when Shion walked into the room. “Morning, sleepyhead,” Shion said, and upon realizing Nezumi was shirtless, a large blush spread across his face. His heart started beating faster as Nezumi hugged him and he could feel his bare skin against his own arms.

“Morning. Back from class I guess?” Nezumi kissed the top of Shion’s head. He was still so delighted that Shion had forgiven him for his stupid actions, and he wanted to make it up to him anyway he could. He stepped back from Shion and, blushing asked, “Would you...would you want to sit in on my theatre class today? We’ll be practicing, and I just thought you might want to see…”

Shion’s deep red eyes lit up at the offer. “I’d love to!” He realized that this must be hard for Nezumi to offer, and added, “If you’re sure you’re okay with it.” Nezumi nodded. “Then yes, I’d love to go,” Shion said, giving Nezumi a warm smile.

Nezumi grinned back. “Awesome. Hey, I meant to ask, have those kids in your genetics class been bothering you lately?”

Shion’s face fell, but he tried to cover it quickly. “Um, I mean, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

Nezumi frowned. “They have, haven’t they? Ugh, why won’t they just leave you alone? What did they say this time?”

Shion shrugged. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Nezumi shook his head. “Of course I’m gonna worry about it! Look, if I’m gonna tell you my problems, you’re gonna tell me yours. So spill.”

Shion sighed and slumped down in his chair. “The girl who started it has gotten several other kids to join in, and they’ll pester me about my hair and stuff before and after class, asking me about why it looks the way it does, and if I’m some kind of mutant, and stuff like that. They’ve started teasing me more in class too, passing notes to me with rude comments on them or making faces to each other about me.” Shion shrugged. “I try to ignore them but...Well, because of what happened with us, I’ve been more susceptible to it lately.”

Nezumi was angry. _How dare these kids mess with my Shion?! Who the fuck do they think they are?!_ He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Okay. I’m not okay with these kids picking on you. So today, I’m gonna walk you to your class and meet you after it, and if these little punks try to bother you, I’m not gonna let them. Okay?”

Shion shook his head. “Nezumi, I appreciate the thought, but please don’t. Then they’ll just think I can’t take care of myself, and that I’m weak, and make fun of me for that. I’ll just deal with it, okay?”

Nezumi didn’t want to agree, but he understood what Shion was saying. “Fine.” He sighed and finished getting dressed. “Alright. Want to head over to theatre with me?”

Shion nodded. He was excited that Nezumi was letting him see this obviously vulnerable side of him. “Let’s go!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion sat in the orchestra section of the audience, about five rows back from the stage. Nezumi’s class was simultaneously running through the show and working on costumes. The stage was set up for Act 2 of Hamlet - Shion wasn’t sure what scene - and the actors were trying to run through their lines off script, some dressed in full costume, others in partial costume, some just in their everyday clothes. It was quite an interesting sight.

Shion had yet to see Nezumi come on, and he was anxious with anticipation and excitement. He couldn’t wait to see Nezumi’s acting - Nezumi had proclaimed of himself that he was very good - and he also couldn’t wait to see Nezumi’s costume. He knew Nezumi was embarrassed by it, but Shion couldn’t imagine it looking bad on Nezumi. Nezumi was just so beautiful, so graceful, Shion knew he could make anything look good.

Suddenly, a beautiful voice was heard singing offstage. A tall, slender woman entered the stage, her graceful figure accompanying the lovely voice. Shion looked closer and realized it wasn’t a woman - it was Nezumi! His long, dark hair that was usually pulled back was down, loose around his shoulders, and his gentle gray eyes were accentuated by the mascara that made his lashes appear even longer and darker. His soft lips were colored a slight rose color to match the blush on his cheeks. The long, pale blue dress he was wearing hung lightly on his shoulders and swished daintily around his feet. Shion felt his cheeks grow warm and his heartbeat speed up to what was probably an unhealthy rate.

Nezumi quickly glanced at Shion, nervous about what he would think. They weren’t using the lighting yet, so his view of the audience wasn’t blocked out by bright stage lights. He could clearly see Shion, leaning forward in his seat, his mouth slightly open and his face red. Nezumi blushed and tried not to laugh. He finished Ophelia’s song and continued on with the scene, but his thoughts were all on Shion and how much he loved him.

Class ended, and Shion waited impatiently at the front of the stage. Nezumi finally emerged from backstage, back in his normal clothes, his makeup removed, tying his hair up into his signature ponytail. Shion rushed over to him. “That was amazing!” he said, his eyes sparkling. “Your acting was incredible, and you looked beautiful too!” He realized what he had said and blushed, but he didn’t care - he was so happy to have gotten to see Nezumi act.

Nezumi smiled, blushing as well. “Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it. So, you wanna come to the play then I guess?”

“Of course!” Shion exclaimed. Nezumi laughed, and the two headed off to lunch together.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

After lunch, Shion and Nezumi headed back to their dorm room to finish up last minute homework they had put off for their classes that day. While they were working, Nezumi turned to Shion and asked again, “Are you sure I can’t walk to your class with you?”

Shion sighed. “Nezumi, this is like the fifth time you’ve asked me that. If I tell you that you can pick me up from class, will that make you happy?”

Nezumi considered. “Happy enough.”

“Alright then. You can pick me up from genetics at 4:30. We have a lab today, so class is gonna be a little longer than usual.” Shion looked at his clock. “Speaking of, I should probably head out now. I’ll see you after, okay?”

Nezumi got up and hugged Shion tightly. “Don’t let them get to you, okay?” He pulled back and kissed Shion’s forehead. “I’ll see you after.”

Shion nodded, blushing. He quickly packed up his stuff and left the dorm room. Nezumi sat down at his desk, hoping Shion would be alright. He sighed and got back to work. He only had about forty-five minutes before he had to head to class as well.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

_Finally free_ , Nezumi thought as he raced out of his statistics class. _Now to go meet Shion._ He headed towards the science building, anxious to meet Shion outside his genetics class. When he got there, he realized that there were still about 20 minutes before Shion’s class was over. He sat down in a chair outside the classroom and waited nervously, worried about Shion.

A little after 4:30, Shion trudged out of the classroom, a few girls and guys following behind him, snickering not-so-subtly behind their hands. Nezumi stood up, his anger from the morning returning, and walked calmly over to Shion. The kids behind him watched, confused as to who this new person was.

“Hey, Nezumi,” Shion said. He sounded down, and it made Nezumi even more upset.

“Hey, Shion,” Nezumi replied, wishing there was something he could do to make Shion happy again.

The group of bullies was in confused at first, but quickly got over themselves when their apparent leader, a tall, skinny girl with a loud voice called out, “Hey Mutant-Shion, is this your boyfriend?” She smirked, and several other people began to snicker again.

Nezumi was really getting pissed off now, and decided to shut the girl up by doing something she wouldn’t expect. He cupped his hand under Shion’s chin and tilted his face up towards his own. Nezumi leaned down and touched his lips gently to Shion’s, giving him a soft kiss before pulling away. He smiled, a slight flush on his cheeks, and Shion smiled back, blushing as well. Nezumi then turned to look at the group of bullies and, locking eyes with the lead girl, stated sharply, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

The girl took a step back, an expression on her face that was somewhere between shocked and scared. “N- no,” she said. The others in the group were also looking a bit more wary and unsure now, and some decided to leave. Seeing the group behind her dispersing, the lead girl decided she would get out of there as well, muttering, “Whatever, he’s not worth it,” before slinking away.

Nezumi watched her go and, once she had turned a corner, looked back at Shion. “There, they might leave you alone now- ”

Shion threw his arms around Nezumi’s neck, standing on tiptoes to do so. He buried his face in Nezumi’s chest, whispering, “Thank you.” He felt his feet leave the ground as Nezumi hugged him back and lifted him up, and he could hear Nezumi’s heart hammering in his chest.

Nezumi set him back on the ground. He ran his fingers through Shion’s white hair, one arm still wrapped around his waist. “No problem,” he said, smiling. “Now, do you want to go get some dinner?”

Shion smiled back and nodded, and the two headed to the caf.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

In the caf, Shion and Nezumi were back at their table near the window, laughing and eating together once again. Suddenly, someone came stomping up to their table.

“Oh, hey Inu- ”

“Don’t you fucking ‘Hey Inukashi’ me you little shit,” Inukashi hissed.

Nezumi raised his hands as if to fend off an attack. “Whoa, chill. What’s going on?”

“‘What’s going on?’ Seriously?! A few days ago, you two are not even fucking talking and Shion comes to my room in tears asking to stay at my place for a while and now you to are laughing and shit and you ask me ‘what’s going on?’” Inukashi was seething. “I don’t know, Nezumi. Why don’t you tell me?!”

_Oh shit_ , Nezumi thought. _I forgot to tell Inukashi_. “Heh, well, I uh, I guess I might have forgotten to mention that Shion and I worked out our issues…” He offered a weak smile and shrugged, but Inukashi looked like they were going to bite his head off.

“You might have forgotten to tell me that you two worked out your problems?” Inukashi glared at Nezumi. “Am I not the one who tried to fucking help you work out your problems?! Do I not deserve to know this shit when it happens?! Or am I just here for advice and that’s it?”

Nezumi sighed. “I’m sorry, Inukashi! A lot happened, and I really just forgot to tell you that it worked out. I’m really sorry, okay?”

Inukashi frowned, crossing their arms. “Hmph. Fine. But next time you have a problem, don’t come crawling to me expecting me to fix it for you.” They turned to walk away, but stopped to add over their shoulder, “I’m glad you two worked it out.”

Nezumi grinned as Inukashi walked away. “Aw, they were concerned for us. How sweet.” He turned to look at Shion and noticed that he was giving him a weird look. “What?”

Shion raised an eyebrow and replied, “This is probably why they don’t consider you their friend.”

“Whoa now, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean, that was kind of a dick move, to not tell them what happened.”

“I really did forget! Look, I was just so happy that we got back together that it totally slipped my mind!” Nezumi made a pouty face. “I apologized, didn’t I?”

Shion laughed and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you did. I’m sure they won’t stay mad for long. They seemed to be calming down as they talked to us.”

Nezumi smiled. “Yeah, they get mad about stuff pretty quickly but they also stop being mad pretty fast as well. So, I was wondering, do you want to do anything tonight?”

Shion tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, tomorrow we don’t have class till 11, so we could hit the game room, or go stargazing again, or something. If you want to.”

Shion nodded, looking out the window at the field below. “Sure. I’d love to stargaze again, if you don’t mind.” When he looked back at Nezumi, he saw him beaming, and he couldn’t help but smile back.


	9. Kisses and Laughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( im so sorry its taken me so long to update! here is the latest chapter; i hope you enjoy! also, it may be a while before i update again, as i am going into my exam weeks soon and will therefore be even more busy with school and work. but that means that in a few weeks, ill be done with school, so ill be able to update more frequently! thank you for your support and patience! <3 ))

The two boys lay side by side in the soft grass, the stars twinkling above them, the moon a grinning crescent. A cool wind blew across them, ruffling their hair and causing goosebumps to rise on Shion’s arms. _Man, I really should’ve worn a thicker jacket_ , he thought, rubbing his hands on his arms to try and warm them up.

Nezumi noticed Shion’s shivering and sat up, pulling off his own jacket. “Here, you can have mine,” he said, holding it out for Shion to take.

Shion shook his head, sitting up as well. “B- but then you’ll b- be cold, too,” he said, his teeth chattering a bit.

Nezumi smiled. “I’ll be fine. Here.” He scooted closer to Shion and draped his jacket around him, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing gently before letting go. “There,” he said, “better?”

Shion nodded, already warming up a bit. “Yeah, thanks. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Nezumi laid back down. “I’ll be fine.” He felt goosebumps rise on his arms but ignored it. He didn’t want Shion to be cold.

Shion laid down as well, closer to Nezumi than before. _He’s so kind_ , he thought. _Sure, stubborn sometimes, but still very kind_. Shion turned his head to look at Nezumi, who was watching the sky as more and more stars emerged from the darkness. Shion noticed as Nezumi shivered and frowned. _I know he won’t take his jacket back. Hmm, what can I do…_ He smiled as he got an idea and scooched closer to Nezumi.

Nezumi turned to look at Shion, noticing that he had moved closer. “Hey, what’re you up to?” he said.

Shion just smiled and kept getting closer until he and Nezumi were almost touching, then draped the jacket over both of them. “There,” he said. “Now we can both be warm.” He looked at Nezumi and realized how close they were; his face was barely an inch away. Blushing, Shion turned his head away and looked back up at the sky. “U- um, wow, the stars are bright tonight.”

Nezumi smiled. He could tell Shion was nervous, and to be honest, he was too. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach as he reached his hand out under the jacket to hold Shion’s. Nezumi wrapped his fingers around Shion’s hand and waited, holding his breath.

Shion’s heart raced as Nezumi’s hand took his own, and he twined his own fingers through Nezumi’s. He remembered the first time they had held hands out here - the night that had started it all. He smiled and turned to face Nezumi, biting his lip nervously.

Nezumi’s heart skipped a beat when Shion looked at him and he could barely contain his feelings for the red-eyed boy. _He’s so cute, all nervous like that_ , he thought. Nezumi reached his free hand up and ran it slowly through Shion’s hair, bringing it down to rest on his cheek and caressing Shion’s strange scar with his thumb. He could feel the heat in Shion’s cheeks and he couldn’t hold back anymore. Nezumi closed the small gap between their faces and pressed his lips to Shion’s, staying there longer than he had before.

When Nezumi pulled away, Shion realized he was wishing he hadn’t. _I want more_ , he thought. He looked into Nezumi’s gray eyes and gave him a small smile. _I can do this_ , he thought, before leaning towards Nezumi and kissing him on the lips. His heart beat faster as Nezumi kissed him back, his hand slipping from Shion’s cheek down onto his neck. Shion reached his hand up rested it on Nezumi’s chest, and he could feel that Nezumi’s heart was racing too.

Nezumi pulled away and took a deep breath before whispering, “Shion I...I think I love you.” He looked up into Shion’s eyes and saw that they looked happier than he had ever seen them look before.

“I love you too,” Shion whispered. He smiled at Nezumi’s overjoyed face. Suddenly Nezumi’s mouth was on his again, and he was kissing him harder than he had before, and Shion was holding tight to Nezumi’s shirt, and then Nezumi’s tongue was in his mouth, and his hand was on Shion’s waist, and he had pulled Shion closer to him, and Shion had never felt anything like this before.

Nezumi pulled away after a couple minutes. Both boys were breathing heavily, their faces flushed. “Sorry,” Nezumi muttered. “I don’t know what came over me, I just…”

Shion touched his finger to Nezumi’s lips, shushing him. “You don’t have to apologize for that. That was…” Shion didn’t know how to finish the thought. He had never kissed anyone like that before, or been so close to anyone before, or felt so strongly towards anyone before. He looked into Nezumi’s beautiful gray eyes and smiled.

Nezumi’s face was flushed and he could still taste Shion on his lips. He had acted on impulse, letting go of all reserves he had. He saw Shion smiling at him and he couldn’t help but smile back. Shion was dazzling in the soft light of the stars; his hair seemed to be glowing and his eyes shone a dark crimson. Nezumi leaned forward and kissed the tip of Shion’s nose. Shion giggled at that, and Nezumi laughed lightly as well. Nezumi was surprised when Shion scooted closer to him, one hand resting on Nezumi’s chest, the other still entwined with Nezumi’s. Shion’s head was tucked under Nezumi’s chin, and Nezumi felt a light kiss on his neck. He pulled Shion close to himself, his free arm wrapped around Shion’s waist. Nezumi sighed, content to stay like this, wishing this moment could last forever.

A few minutes later, Nezumi noticed that Shion had become very still, his breathing deep and regular. _Oh no...Did he fall asleep?_ Nezumi gently squeezed Shion’s hand. “Shion?” he whispered. “Shion? You awake?”

Shion readjusted a bit at Nezumi’s voice, but otherwise didn’t react.

 _I can’t believe he fell asleep_ , Nezumi thought, smiling. _It’s barely eleven o’clock._ He slowly moved his arm from around Shion’s waist and gently shook his shoulder. “Shion…” he said softly, trying to wake up the snoozing boy. “Shion, wake up. You can’t sleep here. We can go back to the dorm and sleep, okay?”

Shion’s brow furrowed and his lips pouted in a childish expression of reluctance as he came out of his sleep. “Hmmm?” he mumbled something incomprehensible and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at Nezumi, let out a big yawn, and pouted again.

“Come on, Shion, let’s get you in bed.”

“I - don’t - wanna,” Shion muttered, squeezing his eyes shut.

 _He’s so cute when he’s pouty_ , Nezumi thought, smiling at Shion’s sulky expression. “Well, you gotta. Come on. I’ll carry you, but you have to stand up.”

With Nezumi’s help, Shion reluctantly stood up, the jacket they had been using as a blanket falling off in the process. Nezumi picked it up and draped it around Shion’s shoulders again before picking him up princess-style. “Alright, your majesty,” he said, “it’s time to get some rest.” Shion loosely folded his arms around Nezumi’s neck, and with one in the arms of the other, the two made their way back to their dorm for the rest of the night.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion woke up and found that he was in his bed in his and Nezumi’s room. He tried to remember what had happened last night. Nezumi had told him he loved him, he had replied that he loved Nezumi too. Then, there was the passionate kiss; just the thought of it brought a blush to Shion’s cheeks. After that, everything was kind of fuzzy. _I don’t remember walking back here_ , Shion thought. _I must’ve been really tired_. He sat up and stretched, then looked at Nezumi’s bed. It was empty. He was confused for a moment before he heard the sound of the shower running. Shion checked his clock and figured that if Nezumi got out soon, he would still have time to shower before class. _I’ll just wait till he’s done_ , Shion thought, and got together the clothes he would change into after his shower.

Nezumi got dressed in the bathroom. He wasn’t particularly body-shy - theatre forces you to get comfortable with other people’s bodies very fast - but he didn’t want to wake Shion up, so he decided to change in the bathroom. The whole time he was showering and getting dressed, Nezumi couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened last night. _I did it. I told him I loved him. And he...he said it back to me._ Nezumi smiled, remembering how close they had been, laughing a little when he remembered how Shion had fallen asleep in his arms. _I’ve never felt like this…_

Nezumi was brought out of his reverie when he heard a loud thunk in the other room. He opened the door and looked around, and then noticed Shion sitting on the floor, rubbing his foot. “Um, Shion? You okay?”

Shion looked up in surprise. “Oh, hey, morning Nezumi. Yeah, I’m alright. I was getting out of my bed and I guess I was going too fast and I banged my foot on the ladder.” He looked down at his foot and shrugged. “I think it’ll be okay. Maybe a small bruise.”

“Okay. I heard a thump like something fell - ”

“That was me,” Shion interrupted.

“ - and I just wasn’t sure what happened,” Nezumi said. “Well, I’m glad you’re not too hurt. Did you want to shower before class? You should have enough time if you take a quick one.”

Shion nodded. “Thanks.” He got up and took Nezumi’s place in the bathroom, while Nezumi finished changing in the main room. Once Shion had finished showering and getting dressed, the two headed off to Humanities.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

In Humanities class, Inukashi was still pretending to be mad at the boys. Shion and Nezumi sat next to them and tried to talk to them, but they just ignored them, although Shion did catch them smiling at one point when they thought he wasn’t looking. Shion knew they were secretly very glad that he and Nezumi were back together.

“Come on, Inukashi, join us for lunch,” Nezumi asked the longhaired kid after class. “You can’t stay mad at us forever.”

Inukashi huffed, then sighed, then rolled their eyes, then finally agreed. “Fine. But I’m still mad at you.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” Nezumi said, grinning. “Let’s go get food!”

Once the three were seated, they began to eat and talk pretty much like normal. Every once in awhile, Inukashi would realize that they were talking and joking with Nezumi, they would quickly shut their mouth and put on a mad face again, but it wouldn’t be long before they’d join in on the conversation again. At one point, Nezumi got up to refill his plate, and Shion seized the opportunity alone with Inukashi to thank them.

“You’ve put up with a lot from us. It really means a lot to me what you’ve done. I don’t know if we could’ve made it to this point without your help.”

Inukashi’s cheeks flushed at Shion’s sincerity. “It’s not a big deal. I didn’t really do anything,” they replied gruffly.

“Well, maybe to you it wasn’t a big deal, but it was for me, and I think it was for Nezumi, too,” Shion said. He knew that Inukashi was like Nezumi when it came to feelings - they both had that rule of not letting anyone close and not showing what they really felt. But Shion could tell that Inukashi was happy for him and Nezumi, and that Shion’s praise had made them feel good. He smiled, happy with where everything was at this point in his life.

“What are you smiling about?” Nezumi teased as he sat down at the table, ruffling Shion’s hair. “Were you two talking about me while I was gone?”

“Loads,” Inukashi said. They seemed to have given up on being mad at Nezumi, although that wasn’t going to stop them from teasing him relentlessly.

“Well, don’t stop now,” Nezumi said, smirking. “Tell me what wonderful things you’ve said about me. I know the list must be quite long.”

Shion rolled his eyes, a big smile across his face. “Oh, well isn’t someone modest?”

Inukashi chimed in as well. “You know, we’ve been talking about how when you were a kid, you used to think that clouds were made out of cotton candy, and when Rikiga said that they weren’t, you cried for like an hour.”

Shion didn’t have to ask if that was true - Nezumi’s red face and embarrassed expression told him it was. Nezumi was fussing at Inukashi while they snickered, and Shion couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey, don’t you laugh at me!” Nezumi said, grabbing Shion and giving him a sort of gentle noogie.

“Stop, stop!” Shion laughed, squirming in Nezumi’s arms. He could hear Inukashi’s and Nezumi’s laughter mixing with his own, and he thought that he had never felt so happy in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( alright! i'm going through my exams this week, but after this i'll be done with my first year of college (woohoo!) and back at home for summer so i can get a lot of writing done. thank you for your patience! i'll try to have more stuff up as soon as i can! ))


	10. Exams and Paint Wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( im sorry this update took so long, ive been busy with preparing for animazement in raleigh, which i will be at this weekend, and you should let me know if you are gonna be too! i will try to update more regularly but i make no promises. /.\ i swear this fic is NOT discontinued or over yet though! i will continue to update when i can! :) thank you for being patient. <3 ))

“I can’t do this anymore,” Nezumi groaned, flopping out of his desk chair and onto the floor. “Can i just skip exams and hope I don’t fail?”

“Of course not!” Shion said, putting down the index cards that he was studying. “You cannot do that. You just need to push through, keep studying, and after exams are done it’ll be winter break! Just keep thinking about that to get you through it.”

Nezumi groaned again. “Great, I can’t wait to spend another Christmas alone, or worse, with Rikiga.” Nezumi sighed and pulled himself back into his chair, staring blankly into the notebook in front of him.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you about that…” Shion said, trailing off. Nezumi looked at him and saw that there was a slight blush across his cheeks. “I, um, well,” Shion stammered, not meeting Nezumi’s eyes, “I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house for the break.”

Nezumi grinned, looking at his cute shy boyfriend. “I would love to, Shion! That would be awesome! Thanks for inviting me,” he said, walking over to Shion and giving him a hug. He stepped back. “Wait, is your mom okay with that? I mean...does she...know? About us?”

Shion bit his lip. “Well, I mean...not exactly. I mean, I asked if you could come stay with us during the break, and she said it was fine, but...I didn’t tell her that we were like...anything more than friends.” Shion sighed. “I don’t really know how to tell her and, to be honest, I’m kind of scared to. I don’t really know what she’ll say or do.”

Nezumi saw how worried Shion was about this and hugged him again, kissing his white hair. “It’s alright Shion. If you don’t want to tell her yet, that’s okay. We can keep it quiet. Or, if you decide you want to tell her, know that I’m right here beside you, okay?” He felt Shion nod his head against his chest. “Okay, good. Now, shouldn’t you be studying?” Nezumi teased. Shion rolled his eyes and gently shoved Nezumi back towards his desk before turning back to his index cards.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nezumi checked the clock on his desk - 1:27. He yawned, flipping his notebook closed. “Hey Shion, I’m gonna go get a snack, do you want anything?”

Shion didn’t turn from his books. “Maybe like a coffee? Yeah..a coffee please…” He yawned so hard Nezumi heard his jaw crack.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to sleep? You probably aren’t getting much information into your head at this point.”

Shion shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “I wanna finish up studying anatomy tonight. Then I’ll sleep.”

Nezumi sighed and left to go get a snack and Shion’s coffee. _He works himself too hard_ , he thought. _Oh well. Once we’re done with exams, he can get a break._ Nezumi bought a muffin and a coffee from the mini cafe on campus that was open until 2 am. He walked back to the residence hall, waking up a little more in the chilly night air. “Shion, I got your coffee.”

Nezumi turned and noticed that Shion’s head was down on his desk on top of his books and notebooks. “Shion?” he said softly. Shion didn’t respond. _He fell asleep_ , Nezumi thought, smiling to himself. _I told him to go to bed_. Nezumi set down the coffee and muffin on his own desk before heading back over to Shion’s. Very carefully, he scooted Shion’s chair back a little, trying not to disturb the sleeping boy. He scooped Shion up into his arms, holding his breath as Shion readjusted himself but stayed asleep. Nezumi smiled down at the white-haired boy curled up in his arms, one hand gently closed around Nezumi’s shirt. “You idiot,” Nezumi said. “Come on, it’s bedtime now.” Nezumi gently laid Shion in his bed, carefully prying his hand off of his shirt. He pulled the blankets up over Shion’s sleeping form and gave him a light kiss on the forehead. “Sleep well, Your Majesty.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion woke up and realized he was still in his clothes from the day before. _When did I go to bed?_ he thought. He looked up towards Nezumi’s bed to see if he was awake yet. _Nope. He’s still asleep. What time is it?_ Shion climbed out of his bed and looked at the clock on his desk. “It’s noon?!” Shion was shocked. “I’ve never slept this late, what the heck?” He heard Nezumi turn over in his sleep and realized he was talking out loud. “What time did I go to bed last night?” Shion whispered to himself. “I don’t remember falling asleep.” Shion shrugged. _I should go get some breakfast. Or lunch, I guess._

When Shion got back from the cafeteria, he saw that Nezumi had gotten up. “Morning, or afternoon I guess,” he said. “When did we go to bed last night? I don’t really remember.”

“That’s because you fell asleep while you were studying. I had to put you into your bed and tuck you in and shit.” Nezumi smirked at Shion. “Gosh, you’re so needy.”

Shion blushed. “I am not! I’m sorry I’m actually trying to do well on my exams!”

“Are you saying I’m not trying? I was up at 1:30 last night too, you know.”

“You spent half the time moaning about how much you didn’t want to study.”

“...Okay well the other half of the time I was studying so I still did some work! Plus, I wasn’t the one who fell asleep at my desk like _somebody_.”

Shion rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure the only reason you’ve studied at all is because I’ve made you. Anyways, have you had anything to eat yet?”

“I got a muffin last night but I didn’t eat it because I had to put _someone_ to bed so I ate it when I got up.”

“Okay, good. Now, you know what we need to do today?”

Nezumi groaned. “Let me guess - study?”

Shion grinned. “Ding ding ding! We have a winner! But, as a reward, after we study for a while, there is an ‘Exam Stress Relief’ thing going on on campus later that we should go to.”

Nezumi raised an eyebrow. “Exam stress Relief? What is it? Are we gonna hold hands in a circle and chant to calm ourselves down or something? I’m not interested.”

Shion shrugged. “I figured you’d say something like that. I mean, I’m gonna go regardless, but if you’re really not interested in a paint war or hamsterball soccer then you don’t have to go.”

Nezumi tried to act uninterested, but ‘paint war’ and ‘hamsterball soccer’ sounded very fun and stress-relieving indeed. “I guess I’ll go with you,” he said, attempting to sound bored.

“Oh good, I’m so glad you agreed,” Shion said, as if he didn’t know that Nezumi would go with him, “I was _so worried_ you wouldn’t come.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay, whatever. We have to study before we go, right?”

Shion nodded. “Yup, study time first! Just for a few hours, and then we can go to the stress relief event. So let’s study up!” Shion plopped himself down at his desk and opened up his notebooks. Nezumi smiled, turned back towards his own desk, and began to study as well.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ready! SET! _GO!_ ” The leader of the Paint Wars game blew her shrill whistle and the two teams took off in opposite directions, each heading towards the woods on either side of the meadow where they had gathered to play. The game was, essentially, an amped-up version of Capture the Flag: each team had a flag they had to protect, and their goal was to take the other team’s flag. However, there was an addition to the game - each team had various paint weapons to attack the other team with, and if you were hit by the opposing team’s paint, then you were “dead.” So not only did you have to attain your enemy’s flag, you had to do so without them finding you and killing you first or taking your flag first. It was rather intense.

Nezumi and Shion had signed up to be on opposite teams, each claiming that he would get the other’s flag first. “See you after I win,” Shion said as the two teams were facing off before the whistle.

“Yeah, you wish,” Nezumi replied. “I’ll see you after _I_ win.” The two boys grinned at each other and then sprinted off as the whistle shrieked out over the meadow.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion huddled behind a tree, his water gun filled with red paint held tight to his chest. _Halfway into enemy territory_ , he thought. _I can make it. The plan is working great so far._ Suddenly, he heard branches snapping on the other side of his tree. _Someone’s coming. Okay, plan, don’t fail me now!_ He jumped out on the unsuspecting patroller, splattering her shirt with red paint. Just as he got ready to run, he heard a voice behind him.

“Going so soon?” Nezumi called, leaning against a nearby tree. “But I only just got here.” His blue-paint-filled water gun was pointed straight at Shion’s back.

Shion slowly turned around, putting on the most innocent expression he could. “You wouldn’t shoot me, would you?”

Nezumi smirked. “All’s fair in love and war, Your Majesty.” He fired, and Shion was covered with blue paint. But he didn’t even try to dodge Nezumi’s shot, and when he was hit, he just laughed. Nezumi frowned. “Why are you -”

_SPLAT._

Nezumi was in shock. A red paint grenade had landed right on his head, exploding and soaking him with red paint. _How?_ he thought. _How did someone sneak up on me?_ Then he realized. “Shion, you…”

Shion smiled. “All’s fair in love and war,” he said, high-fiving Inukashi as they came around from behind Nezumi. “Alright Inu, go get that flag. The rest of the plan depends on you.” Inukashi stuck their tongue out at Nezumi before racing off deeper into the woods.

“I. Cannot. Believe you,” Nezumi was still a little in shock, but he was pretty impressed with Shion’s plan to use Inukashi to put Nezumi out of commission. “I should’ve known you had something planned.”

Shion shrugged, still smiling. He was pretty proud that he had been able to actually trick Nezumi. “I knew you were one of the biggest threats on this team, so I had to take you out somehow. It was mostly Inukashi’s idea. You know, for not being friends with you, they sure know you pretty well.” In the direction of the meadow they heard the shrill whistle once again. “Well, sounds like Inukashi was successful,” Shion grinned.

Nezumi shook his head. “I have to say, I’m impressed that your plan worked. It’s pretty difficult to catch me off guard. And...I’m surprised you could predict my movements so well.”

The two paint-covered kids started walking back towards the meadow. “Well, actually…” Shion said, a slight flush creeping up his cheeks, “It was really Inukashi who suggest I come this far out. I uh...I was planning to stay back, but Inukashi said that I should come out here because you would probably target me first.”

Nezumi blushed. “Damn it Inukashi,” he muttered. “Well, they were right I guess. I wanted the honor of taking out the prince myself,” Nezumi said, bowing dramatically.

Shion laughed, gently shoving Nezumi. “Oh shut up. Come on, let’s go get my reward.”


	11. Winter Break and Sleeping Arrangements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( i am so sorry it took so long for me to update! D: i feel really bad but summer was just crazy and then moving back into school was hectic and ive just had a lot going on. but i promise i will try to update more from now on! i cant promise a chapter every week, but it wont be as long as this last break was, i swear! thank you so much for reading and liking my fic, every kudos and comment means so much to me! :') thank you for your patience and understanding <3 i hope you guys like this chapter!  
> side note: smut WILL be coming soon, so if you don't like that then don't read that part (i understand). but just know you have been warned! ))
> 
> (( edit: i was rereading this and realized that the part with the races wasn't adding up to make sense, so i went back and changed some things so that the numbers actually added up right. just thought i'd put that here in case anyone noticed it was different and was wondering why. as always, thanks for reading, and thanks for every comment and kudos! ^.^ ))

“You all packed up for winter break?” Shion asked Nezumi. The two boys were in their dorm room, bags packed up for the few weeks they had off for the break. Classes were already over, so they were just waiting for Shion’s mom to pick them up and bring them back to Shion’s house.

“Yes, yes, for the millionth time, yes!” Nezumi said, exasperated. Shion had asked him at least four times in the last twenty minutes alone if he was packed for break. Nezumi didn’t know why Shion was acting so anxious. “What’s up, Shion? What are you so nervous about?”

“I’m not nervous,” Shion said, pacing back and forth between the boys’ beds. “Why would you think I’m nervous? I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.” Just then, Shion’s phone rang, causing him to jump in surprise. “Hello? Oh, hey mom! Yeah, we’re all ready. We’ll be right down!” Shion picked up his bag and turned to Nezumi. “Mom’s waiting for us outside. Ready to go?”

Nezumi sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, as I just said less than two minutes ago, I’m ready.” He picked up his bag and followed Shion out of the dorm room.

As soon as the two boys got outside of the dorm building, Shion ran towards the middle-aged woman who was waiting outside. “Hey Mom!” he called, and when he got to her he dropped his bag and threw his arms around her in a huge hug.

Shion’s mother laughed, hugging her son back. “Hello, Shion. I missed you.” She let go of him and stepped back, looking up and down her son with a scrutinizing gaze. “I think you might have gotten taller since I last saw you, Shion! Either that or I’m shrinking.”

Shion laughed and then realized that Nezumi was just awkwardly standing off to the side. Shion tugged Nezumi over to where his mom was standing. “Mom, you remember Nezumi, right?”

Shion’s mother smiled warmly at Nezumi. “Of course I do. How are you, Nezumi?”

“Oh, I’m alright. What about you, Ms. Kazuki?” Nezumi replied, giving Shion’s mom a polite smile. He felt kind of awkward since he didn’t know Shion’s mom really at all and since she didn’t know that he was dating her son.

“Please, just call me Karan. I’m doing just fine, especially now that I get to have you two at home with me for a couple of weeks! I won’t have to do the chores all by myself now,” Karan said with a laugh. “But really, I’m very happy to have Shion back for a bit, and it will be nice to get to know his roommate a bit! The house has been so quiet since you went off to college, Shion.”

“I’m sure it’s very loud when Shion is home. Such a rowdy kid,” Nezumi said sarcastically.

“Yes,” Karan replied, joining in on teasing Shion, “he’s just such a rambunctious kid, throwing crazy parties all the time and never giving me a moment of peace.”

Karan and Nezumi started laughing and Shion rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny. Let’s just go already.”

“Oh don’t be so pouty,” Nezumi said, throwing an arm around Shion and giving him a small noogie. “We’re just joking around.”

Karan smiled at the two, happy to see that they got along so well. “Come on you two, grab your bags and let’s get to the car. We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few hours in the car, the trio arrived at Shion’s house. It was a small, simple house; just one story, a small but tidy kitchen, a decently sized living space, and two bedrooms, each with their own small bathroom attached. “I know it’s not much, but I hope you enjoy your stay here all the same,” Karan said as she showed Nezumi around the house.

“No, don’t worry. It’s wonderful,” Nezumi replied. He loved the small house. _Besides, it’s much better than living on the streets_ , he thought. “So, where should I put my bag?”

“You can put it in Shion’s room. We don’t have a guest room, so you’ll have to share Shion’s room with him, but since you two have been doing that all semester I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Oh, and we do have a small air mattress, so I’ll blow that up for you to sleep on,” Karan added.

“I can do it,” Nezumi offered. “Just show me where it is and I can set it up.” Karan thanked him and got the uninflated mattress out of a closet in her room. Nezumi took it and went to Shion’s room to start setting it up. Shion was already in the room, unpacking his bag and putting his clothes into his dresser.

“Hey Nezumi! How do you like the house? I know it’s kinda small but--” Shion stopped as Nezumi hugged him from behind. Shion leaned his head back on Nezumi’s shoulder, looking up into Nezumi’s grey eyes.

“It’s perfect,” Nezumi said softly. “Because...because I’m here with you.”

Shion blushed and noticed that Nezumi’s cheeks were flushed as well. “You’re a big softy, you know that?”

“I am not,” Nezumi protested, but Shion just laughed. “Whatever. Anyways, I’ve gotta set up this mattress,” Nezumi mumbled, a bit embarrassed. He let go of Shion and and sat on the floor to start pumping the mattress with air.

After several minutes had gone by and the mattress looked no more inflated, Nezumi stopped the air pump and started going over the mattress. _Maybe it’s got a small hole somewhere_ , he thought. Then he saw it. “Oh boy. That’s a problem.”

“What is it?” Shion asked. He had finished unpacking his clothes and was laying on his bed reading.

“Uh, well, there’s a pretty big hole in your air mattress. Like, too big to just patch up. That’s why the mattress wasn’t inflating.”

Shion got off his bed to check out the hole. “Oh yeah, that’s big. Hmm. Well, I guess we gotta get a new air mattress at some point.”

Nezumi nodded in agreement and then suddenly froze. _Wait a minute. I can’t sleep on the air mattress, and there’s no guest bedroom…_ “Uh, Shion? Where exactly am I gonna sleep?”

Shion’s eyes widened as he realized the issue. “Um, I don’t know. I guess…” He felt his cheeks get hot and he looked away from Nezumi. “Um, I...I guess you could always just...well, you could just sleep in my bed.”

Nezumi felt himself blushing as well. “Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess that’ll work.”

The two boys sat in an awkward silence for a minute before Shion jumped up, announced that he was going tell his mom about the hole in the air mattress, and ran out of the room. Nezumi just stayed where he was on the floor, lost in his thoughts. _I’m gonna sleep in Shion’s bed...with Shion...so...I’m gonna sleep with...Shion...I’m gonna sleep with Shion…_ The thought kept running through his mind, repeating over and over again. He could feel his heart beating fast. He and Shion had slept together one other time - when Shion had had his nightmare and was afraid to be alone - but other than that they had always stayed in their own beds. Of course, Nezumi had been extremely close to Shion - they had made out laying down in the field under the stars many times over the semester, and had made out in other places too, but being in the same bed together was an entirely different thing. And whenever they were close together like that, pressed close to each other and kissing intensely, Nezumi would start to feel...well, there was no other way to put it: he would start to feel pretty turned on. He wanted to do more with Shion than just kiss; he wanted to see parts of him he hadn’t seen, he wanted to touch him in places he hadn’t touched, he wanted to--

“Nezumi, dinner’s ready,” Shion said, leaning against the doorway. “Hey, you okay? You look kinda strange--”

Nezumi shot up. “Nope, I’m fine, come on let’s go have dinner. Man I’m starving, aren’t you? Come on let’s go eat,” he said quickly, and brushed past Shion, heading down the hallway to the kitchen. Shion shook his head, unsure of what just happened, and followed after Nezumi.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Dinner was great, thanks Karan,” Nezumi said, patting his full stomach.

“Oh, you’re welcome Nezumi! I’m glad you liked it!” Karan smiled, clearly very proud that her cooking had been complimented.

“Can we help with the dishes or anything?” Shion asked. Karan shook her head, telling the boys that they should just enjoy their break and go do something in the last hour or so before dark.

Nezumi thanked Karan again for the food and then followed Shion out of the kitchen. “So, uh...what do you want to do?”

Shion turned to face Nezumi and grinned. “Well, I do have MarioKart here, and I’d be delighted to kick your ass again.”

Nezumi shook his head. “I believe you are remembering wrong, Your Majesty. The last time we played we tied. But only because I let you win some of them.”

“Oh really? You ‘let me win’ some?” Shion crossed his arms. “I don’t think so. I won my races because I’m better at racing than you!”

“Well, we’ll just have to see won’t we?” Nezumi smirked. “Let’s go and see you prove that you’re not just all talk.”

Shion huffed and led Nezumi to the Wii in the living room. He turned it on and popped the disc in and then handed Nezumi a controller. “I guess we’ll find out who’s a better racer now, won’t we?”

“That’s fu- uhmm- freaking right,” Nezumi said, catching himself when he remembered that Karan was in the house too. He and Shion settled on the couch across from the TV and got ready to race.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hell yeah!” Nezumi yelled as he won yet another race. “Uh I mean...'heck yeah?'” he added quickly, looking around to see if Karan was close by. He didn’t want to tarnish her view of him, especially if Shion decided to tell his mom the truth about he and Nezumi. He turned back to the TV. “How many is that now?”

“Six for you, four for me,” Shion said.

“Looks like I’m pulling ahead, huh? Would you like to give up now or keep going?” Nezumi taunted.

“Like hell I’m gonna give up. Another race. Let’s go,” Shion replied, determined.

“Alright, whatever you say, Your Majesty,” Nezumi said.

After an intense, extremely close race, Shion won by just a few seconds. “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Finally! Take that!”

Nezumi laughed at Shion’s excitement. “Good job, Your Highness. But you know...I’m still up one race. Do you want to - ”

“Of course I want to do another one,” Shion cut Nezumi off. “I’m catching up now, you think I'm gonna just give up?”

Nezumi laughed again. “Okay, okay! We can play another race." He noticed Shion stretching his arms and yawning. _He must be tired,_ he thought. Nezumi glanced at the clock. It was getting kind of late; he didn’t realize how long they had been playing. He vaguely remembered Karan poking her head in at one point to tell the boys she was going to bed. It was almost eleven, which to Nezumi wasn’t super late, but he knew that Shion was used to an earlier bedtime. "Do you wanna make this the last one, Shion?"

“Yeah, if that's okay," Shion said, yawning again.

"It's cool with me. Wait - you know that means you can’t win, right? If you win the next race, we tie, and if I win it, I win overall. Are you sure you wanna do one more? I mean, you could always give up now,” Nezumi teased.

Shion made a face at Nezumi. "I am _not_ going to give up. But..." He sighed. “Fine. If you win this race, we’re done, and I guess I’ll accept that you’re slightly better than me at racing. But if I win, making us tie overall, then we race one last time, and whoever wins that is the overall winner, and then it’s time to sleep.” Shion felt exhausted, but this was a matter of pride. He couldn’t just give up at the end after he’d been fighting for so long.

“Okay,” Nezumi said, trying not to smile. He knew that Shion wouldn’t be able to just roll over and accept defeat so easily. “Let’s go.”

The race ended and the score was tied. Nezumi glanced at Shion; his eyelids were drooping and he yawned so big Nezumi thought his jaw might crack. “We really don’t have to - ”

“We’re playing the last race,” Shion interrupted. “We have to determine the final winner. Or are you too tired?” He smirked at Nezumi, but his eyelids felt heavy. He struggled to hold back a yawn.

“Shion, we could always postpone this to tomorrow,” Nezumi said. He sighed when Shion shook his head. _How can I get him to go the fuck to sleep?_ Nezumi thought. Then he had an idea. “Well you know Shion, if we play this race now, will you really be satisfied if I lose? I mean, I feel pretty tired” - Nezumi faked a yawn - “so that gives you an unfair advantage. Wouldn’t you rather play when I’m on my game so that beating me will feel so much better?”

Somewhere in the back of Shion’s mind, he knew that Nezumi was just trying to trick him into going to bed, but his need for sleep overwhelmed those thoughts and pushed them away. “Yeah, you’re right,” Shion said. “It wouldn’t be as satisfying to beat you like this.” Shion yawned again, rubbing his eyes like a sleepy little kid.

Nezumi’s heart leaped. _Fuck he looks so cute right now._ He cleared his throat. “Okay then, let’s go to bed now. We can do the deciding race tomorrow.” Shion nodded but didn’t move from the couch, and Nezumi sighed but couldn’t stop a small smile from crossing his face. “Come on, Your Majesty,” Nezumi said softly, picking Shion up from the couch and holding him princess style, “it’s time to sleep.”

Nezumi quietly walked down the hallway, trying to step lightly as he passed Karan’s bedroom door. When he got into Shion’s room at the end of the hall, he carefully pushed the door behind him until it closed. He carefully made his way through the dark room to Shion’s bed, where he gently put Shion down. Nezumi tried to pull the covers out from under the half-asleep boy so he could cover him. “Shion,” he whispered, “Shion come on you gotta move. Just for a second so I can get the covers okay?” Shion grunted and shifted so that Nezumi could get to the blankets. Nezumi grabbed them and quickly pulled them over Shion before he could move back on top of them. “There. You can sleep now.” Nezumi laughed softly, thinking to himself, _The little prince is already asleep. Alright, time for me to go to bed too I guess._

Nezumi turned automatically as if to go to his bed in the dorm room before remembering that there wasn’t another bed. “Right.” He turned again, looking at the full bed that Shion was curled up on. “I guess I’ll just climb in on the other side,” he said to himself. And didn’t move. Nezumi stood there for several minutes, just looking at the bed, his heart beating quickly. _What the fuck? Just go to bed man, it’s late and you’re tired._ He tried to force himself to move. _Why is this bothering me so much? I mean, we slept in the same bed before, when Shion had that nightmare. What’s the big deal?_ Nezumi took a big breath and moved to the far side of the bed, carefully climbing up and laying on his back on the opposite side from Shion. _This is fine, right?_

Shion turned over in his sleep so he was now facing Nezumi. Nezumi turned his head to look at the sleeping boy. Shion’s hair caught the little light that was in the room, making it clearly visible in the darkness. Nezumi turned on his side and reached out to brush Shion’s hair out of his sleeping face. At Nezumi’s touch, Shion sighed in his sleep and hummed softly. Nezumi pulled his hand away, but seeing that Shion wasn’t waking up, he carefully stretched out his hand again and gently caressed Shion’s face, rubbing his thumb softly on the red scar on Shion’s cheek. Shion readjusted, still sleeping, but scooting closer to Nezumi.

Nezumi pulled his hand back again. _Shit. Fucking hell._ Nezumi was sure his face must be visible in the darkness - he could feel it fucking glowing red. “Shion…” he whispered, and Shion smiled in his sleep. Nezumi’s heart was beating fast. _This kid is gonna give me a heart attack, goddammit._ Nezumi moved closer to Shion, hoping he wouldn’t wake up. Shion was still sleeping on his side and had one hand up near his face, resting limply with the palm facing up. Nezumi noticed it and carefully placed his hand on Shion’s, holding his breath in fear that Shion would wake up. He didn’t. Instead, he subconsciously reacted to Nezumi’s touch and wove his fingers between Nezumi’s. _Oh my God. Oh my fucking God._ Now, not only did Nezumi’s face feel hot, his whole body felt hot, and he was breathing heavily. _Goddammit Shion. How do you do this to me? How can you make me feel this way? Why do you make me so confused, so flustered? I used to be so closed off from everyone. Cold and distant. And then you came along… ___

Nezumi caught his breath as Shion shifted again. _Oh god please don’t wake up. Not right now. I need to get out of this bed. I’ll go sleep on the floor, or the couch, or -_

Shion’s eyelids fluttered, opening just a crack. “Nezu...mi...?” Shion said quietly, his speech slightly slurred from sleepiness. “What’s...going on? Are you...okay?”

“Fuck,” Nezumi whispered.


	12. Tracing Lips and Fingertips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( light smut warning just fyi!! i hope you guys like this chapter, im glad it didnt take me too long to update again ^.^ as always thanks for reading, and i appreciate every kudos and comment so much!! <3 thank you all!! ))

“Fuck,” Nezumi whispered.

Shion blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked at Nezumi. “Huh? What’s up, Nezumi? Are you alright?”

Nezumi quickly turned his face away from Shion. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it; go back to sleep,” he said, trying to speak normally.

Shion noticed Nezumi’s hand entwined with his, then realized how warm it felt. “Hey, you feel really warm...Do you have a fever?” Shion pulled himself to a sitting position, trying to lean over some so he could see Nezumi’s face.

Nezumi’s heart beat faster. “No, I’m fine, just go to sleep Shion, okay?” he said quickly, pulling his hand away and trying to turn over so his back was to the other boy. Suddenly, Nezumi felt Shion’s hand grab his arm and pull him onto his back, and before he could wrench himself away, Shion was kneeling over him, his legs straddling Nezumi’s torso. Nezumi breathed in sharply. _How did he…_

“I need to check if you have fever,” Shion said, pressing his hand to Nezumi’s cheek.

Nezumi swallowed hard; he could feel his face burning and his heart beating rapidly. _Shion is on top of me...Fucking idiot...He’s just making it worse...getting too turned on...shit…_

“Shion.”

“What?”

“You’re really dense, you know?”

“Huh? What do you - ah!” Shion called out in surprise as Nezumi moved suddenly, taking him off guard. It happened so quickly, Shion barely realized what was going on until he felt Nezumi’s weight above him. Nezumi had swiftly turned and switched their places; he was now straddling Shion, and had pinned him down, holding Shion’s arms above his head with one hand.

“I don’t have a fever, you idiot.”

Shion stared up at Nezumi, still shocked and amazed at how quickly and easily Nezumi had flipped them. It took him a minute to process Nezumi’s words. As the realization of what Nezumi meant dawned on Shion, he suddenly felt Nezumi’s mouth pressed hard against his, and Nezumi’s free hand had slipped up Shion’s shirt, and Shion wrapped one arm around Nezumi’s waist and wove his other hand in Nezumi’s long hair and just held on as they kissed so much he felt he could barely breathe.

Nezumi’s skin felt hot and he knew that Shion had finally figured it out. He felt Shion’s fingers in his hair and his arm around his back and was glad Shion was holding him. Nezumi reached his hand up Shion’s shirt, feeling his hard chest, his heartbeat. _Shion’s heart is beating fast too…_ Nezumi pulled his head back from Shion’s mouth. “Shion…” he murmured, panting slightly, out of breath.

Shion couldn’t speak. _I’ve never kissed someone like that before. I’ve never been this...this intimate with someone before._ He was scared and excited and dazed. He simply stared into Nezumi’s beautiful grey eyes, breathing heavily.

“Shion.” Nezumi said it a bit more forcefully this time, his breathing a bit more regular, trying to call Shion out of his trance. “Shion, I,” he paused. _What am I trying to say? What do I want to say? And...how do I say it?_ “I…”

Shion finished for Nezumi before he could figure it out. “I want you…” he whispered, so softly he wasn’t sure if Nezumi even heard. _I can’t believe I said that. I don’t know why I said that…_ His mouth had seemed to move on its own. Shion felt his cheeks burn red and he looked away from Nezumi’s gaze. _What now? I don’t know what to do…_

Nezumi’s eyes widened when he heard Shion’s quiet whisper. _He...he said…_ The words filled Nezumi’s head, swirling around over and over, _I want you...I want you...I want you…_ Nezumi smiled when he saw Shion avert his eyes and he knew that Shion was just as afraid as - no, probably more than Nezumi was. With slightly trembling hands, Nezumi slowly pulled Shion’s shirt up towards his head, allowing time for Shion to protest if he wanted to. Shion said nothing, but Nezumi thought he heard him gasp when he started to lift his shirt. _So cute…_ Nezumi thought, a small smile playing on his lips. With no resistance from Shion, Nezumi tugged his shirt off over his white hair and tossed it aside. He looked down at Shion’s bare chest.

Shion was lean and, while not extremely toned, he still had some muscle. But what drew Nezumi’s eyes was the red mark twisting around Shion’s torso. _I remember…_ Nezumi’s mind went back to the night Shion got that mark. Shion was just a stranger then, someone in desperate need of help who Nezumi never thought he’d see again. He didn’t know why he felt so compelled to help Shion that night. _I just had to. No one else could do it._ He remembered the one thought that kept running through his mind at the time: _‘I have to save this boy…’_

Nezumi reached out a hand and softly ran his finger along the red scar. He felt Shion shiver at his touch. Suddenly, on an impulse, Nezumi leaned down and gently pressed his lips to the red line on Shion’s chest.

Shion was barely breathing as Nezumi caressed the mark on his chest. He had never felt like this before - so hot, so flustered, so eager yet so afraid. He watched Nezumi’s face; it was soft, gentler than Shion had ever seen it. _It’s unguarded. The carefully constructed persona that he usually shows is gone._ Shion gazed at Nezumi, enchanted by his beauty. _What is he thinking about?_ Shion’s thoughts were interrupted by the touch of Nezumi’s lips on his skin. He gasped and could feel the shakiness of his breath as he exhaled. "Nezumi..." he murmured so quietly it was barely audible.

Nezumi heard Shion sigh his name and could feel his quivering breaths. He took Shion’s whisper as permission to go on, and he once again kissed, ever so gently, the scar that wound its way across Shion’s chest. Nezumi slowly moved along the scar, his small kisses brushing Shion’s skin like a delicate breeze.

Shion’s breath was shaky, and he lay still as Nezumi’s lips travelled down the red mark on his skin. Suddenly Nezumi stopped, and Shion tilted his head up, confused, to look at the long haired boy on top of him. Nezumi’s head was still down; he seemed to just be staring at Shion’s chest. Shion didn't know what to do - Should he call out? Or stay still? _I've never...done anything like this before. I don't know what to -_

Shion gasped and all thought was driven from his mind as he felt Nezumi’s mouth press, more firmly than before, on his nipple. _Ah...so thats..._ Shion couldn't finish the thought; he arched his back slightly and let out a soft moan, reacting unintentionally to Nezumi’s touch.

Nezumi had paused his series of kisses when he got to Shion’s nipple; he stared at it, arguing with himself. _Should I...but Shion’s never...but I don't care, I'm too horny right now to care...but what about Shion?_ Those thoughts had circled in his mind until finally he made up his mind. He pressed his mouth to Shion’s chest, his tongue rubbing and pushing on Shion’s hard nipple. Nezumi felt Shion’s muscles tense up and he felt his hands wrap around his back and grip tightly to Nezumi’s shirt. Shion moaned and Nezumi felt a small smile creep across his face. He tilted his face up so he could see Shion’s face. "Well, this is something entirely new for you, isn't it, Your Majesty?"

Shion let out a large breath he felt he'd been holding forever. "H-how do you know that?” he panted. “That’s a little cocky of you, assuming that you're the only person I've ever been with."

Nezumi smirked. "Ah, excuse me if I've spoken wrongly, my prince. Then I suppose it won't be a problem if I..." He pulled himself up so his face was even with Shion’s again and gave him a mischievous smile.

Shion was slightly regretting his snarky comeback to Nezumi’s teasing. Nezumi was smiling at him in a way that definitely meant he was going to do something that Shion was in no way prepared for. Shion tried to hold Nezumi’s gaze, determined not to back down. But that didn't last long. He felt Nezumi’s hand slide down his chest, down to his hips, and then into his pants. Shion's face burned and his eyes grew wide; he could feel Nezumi’s long, elegant fingers tracing their way along Shion’s upper thigh, bit by bit inching over towards his inner thigh...

“N- Nezumi.” Shion’s voice was shaky. “I...I don't…” Shion didn't know how to finish his sentence. He didn't want to sound like a scared kid. _I don't want to do this...I'm too scared to do this right now..._ He didn't want Nezumi to laugh at him.

Nezumi drew his hand out from Shion’s pants. "Shion." _I went too far._ He turned Shion’s head so he was looking at him, right into his eyes. "Shion," Nezumi said softly, "I won't do anything you don't want me to do."

“I...I’m not a kid, I -”

“I know,” Nezumi said, his voice still quiet but firm. “I know that. But that doesn't mean you have to...to do something if you don't want to. Do you understand? I won't make you do anything you don't want to do.” Nezumi looked at Shion. Shion averted his eyes. “I won't laugh at you.” Shion stayed silent. “Shion.”

Shion finally looked back at Nezumi. “...What?”

“Do you want to stop?”

“I…” Shion paused. _I won't make you do anything you don't want to do...I won't laugh at you._ He heard Nezumi’s words again in his head. “I...I want to stop…” Shion said in barely a whisper. He felt his cheeks flush and he looked away, but Nezumi didn't make any mocking comments. “Okay” was all he said, and gave Shion a kiss on the cheek, gentle and soft as a butterfly's wing brushing against it.

Nezumi got off from on top of Shion. _Fuck...still kinda horny..._ He stood up from the bed. “I'm gonna go take a shower.”

Shion only half-heard Nezumi and only fully realized he was gone when he heard the bathroom door click behind him. Shion lay still, not having moved from that spot on the bed. His cheeks were still hot, and he felt shaky, and his heart was racing like he had just run a mile. He heard the sound of the water running in the bathroom, and it seemed to bring him fully out of his daze. Shion closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, held it for a minute, and then blew it out, trying to calm himself. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Finally, he was able to think, to process what just happened.

Shion lifted a hand and lightly touched his chest. _Nezumi…_ He looked down at the red scar on his body. _Nezumi’s lips…_ Shion absentmindedly ran a finger down the mark, his thoughts on Nezumi’s light kisses, his soft touch; suddenly the skin under his finger felt wet and he looked down in surprise and confusion. _Oh, that’s…_ Shion’s cheeks flushed as he remembered. _Nezumi’s saliva...That’s right...his mouth was here…_ He wiped his finger on his pants and then leaned back against the headboard of the bed. It was cool, refreshing. _That was...something. It was good…_ Shion shook his head. _No, it was better than good. It was...incredible. Nothing I’ve ever felt before. I didn’t know a person could feel that way._ Shion remembered Nezumi’s face and smiled. _He looked so beautiful...more than ever. And so relaxed...Not wearing his usual mask. I wonder if...I wonder if Nezumi felt the same way I did?_

Nezumi let the water run over him. It was cold, almost freezing, but it felt good; it was cooling him down. He pushed his hair back away from his face, slicking it back with the water. _What just happened?_ he thought. He sighed, absently brushing water droplets from his face, trying to sort out his thoughts. _All we did was go to bed...and I just…_ Nezumi didn’t understand why Shion made him feel so strongly. _I just looked at him. That was it...and then this?_ He rubbed his hands over his face. “God…” He turned the temperature of the shower up a little; it was starting to actually feel cold. _How does he do this to me? Without even trying? How does he make me feel this way? So…_ Nezumi searched for the right words. _So helpless to my own emotions? He makes me act on impulse, makes me say and do things without thinking…_ Nezumi sighed and shook his head, water flinging off the tips of his hair. He turned the shower off and stepped out, grabbing a towel from the rack. _Shion...you’re really something else..._

Shion looked up when Nezumi walked back into the room. “Hey…” He didn’t know what to say. He felt an awkward tension inside himself and he wasn’t sure how to act.

Nezumi reached down and grabbed Shion’s shirt from off the floor. “Hey. Here, have some decency, geez,” he joked, tossing the shirt to the boy sitting on the bed.

Shion caught the shirt and felt the tense feeling dissipate as he bantered with Nezumi. “Oh, well excuse me. As if you weren’t enjoying the view.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t flatter yourself,” Nezumi snipped back. The two boys laughed. Nezumi climbed back into the bed while Shion pulled his shirt back on. He flopped down on his back, his arms behind his head. “Now, will you let me get some sleep? Not all of us are night owls, you know,” Nezumi teased.

“Hmm, so it’s all my fault then, is it?” Shion replied. He laid down next to Nezumi, laying his head on Nezumi’s arm. “I suppose you can get some rest.”

Nezumi smiled and turned to face Shion, pulling him close and wrapping his arms gently around him. “Good night, Your Majesty.”

“Good night.”


	13. Sleeping In and Doing Dishes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( hey guys, sorry for the late update!! it took longer than i thought to get this chapter done; ive had a lot going on recently and its been hard to get anything outside of school done. but i finally finished the chapter and am posting it tonight!! just fyi, there might be more mistakes/typos in this chapter because im not doing my best right now so ive probably missed more things than usual. so i apologize if there are mistakes; i tried to catch them all but im not perfect and again, im not doing my best rn so i cant focus as well as i usually can. but i wanted to put this up for you guys so here you go!! i hope you enjoy it and as always, thank you for all of your comments, kudos, and support for me writing this fic!! i really appreciate it <3 ))

_Knock knock knock._  


Shion cracked open his eyelids. He was still wrapped in Nezumi’s arms; he could feel the gentle rise and fall of Nezumi’s chest as he breathed, still sleeping. There was a little light filtering into the room from behind the blinds covering the window. Shion wasn’t sure why he had woken up. _I thought I heard something…_ Shion decided he must have just dreamed it and snuggled back into Nezumi to go back to sleep.  


_Knock knock knock._  


Shion’s eyes opened all the way this time. He had definitely heard something. _A knocking sound? Is it a woodpecker or something?_  


“Shion?” His mother’s muffled voice came from behind the bedroom door. “Can I come in?”  


Shion’s eyes widened. He glanced at the clock in the room; it was 12:37. His mother had been knocking on the door. She wasn’t a nosy mother, nor was she invasive of privacy, but Shion knew that if she didn’t get a reply soon, she would probably come in to make sure he got up. Karan didn’t like it when he slept in too late, especially if she was going to be heading out and so needed Shion to watch the house.  


Shion carefully pulled himself out of Nezumi’s embrace. Nezumi’s brow furrowed for a moment, but he didn’t wake up. Shion sighed in relief and quietly rushed to the door. 

“Just a second Mom! I’m- I’m changing,” he said quickly. He looked back at Nezumi; he was still sleeping peacefully.  


“Alright. I’m glad you’re up. I have to go out for some errands, and I wanted to make sure I was leaving the house safe,” Karan said. “Make sure to eat something when you come out, okay? I’ll be back in a bit.”  


“I’ll eat, don’t worry. Thanks Mom, see you.” Shion heard his mom’s footsteps receding down the hall. He leaned against the door and sighed. _That was close…_ He walked back to the bed and reached out towards Nezumi, but changed his mind. _I’ll let him sleep. He doesn’t need to get up now._ Shion smiled at Nezumi’s relaxed, sleeping form, then slipped out of the bedroom and headed down towards the kitchen. Karan had already left - she must have been waiting till the last minute to wake Shion up - and the kitchen was quiet and warm, bathed in a sharp light from the wintry sun outside. Shion decided he would put on some coffee and start making some breakfast.  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------  


Nezumi woke up alone in the bed. He sat up groggily, looking around the room with half-open eyes. “Shion…?” He yawned, stretched, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The bed was still pretty warm where Shion had been, so Nezumi guessed he must have just woken up as well. _He must have gone to get some breakfast - or lunch, I guess._ Nezumi slid out of the bed and stretched again, then headed out to the kitchen.  


When he walked into the kitchen, he saw Shion standing in front of the stove, still in his pajamas, his back to Nezumi. He was making something, and it smelled good. Nezumi could also smell coffee being made. He smiled. _So this is the comfort of a home, huh?_ He walked up behind Shion and slipped his arms around his waist. “You’re so cruel Shion, leaving me to wake up all alone.” Nezumi said, resting his chin on Shion’s shoulder.  


Shion jumped when he felt Nezumi’s arms around him; he hadn’t heard him walk up. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Shion replied, reaching up a hand to stroke Nezumi’s cheek. “I just wanted to let you sleep.”  


“Hmm,” Nezumi closed his eyes at Shion’s touch, leaning his head into Shion’s hand. “What are you making?”  


“Oh, right! I’m making some scrambled eggs with cheese and ham in them. Go sit down and I’ll bring you some with some coffee in just a minute.”  


Nezumi let go of Shion and sat down at the kitchen table. “Can I help at all?”  


Shion shook his head. “No, I’m just about done and the coffee’s already made. You want it black?”  


“Yeah.”  


“Alright!” Shion set a steaming plate of eggs and a hot mug of coffee in front of Nezumi. “Here you are, my liege,” Shion said, kissing Nezumi on the cheek before going back to the stove to serve himself.  


“Now, now, that’s my nickname for you,” Nezumi said mock-scoldingly, “You can’t go and steal that. You have to come up with something yourself.” He took a bite of eggs. “These are...really good.”  


“Why do you sound so surprised?” Shion said, sitting down at the table with his plate of food and cup of coffee. “Did you think I couldn’t cook?”  


“Well, I figured a pampered mama’s boy wouldn’t have to learn to cook for himself.”  


Shion crossed his arms. “Well if you’d rather make your own breakfast then I’ll just take your plate for you,” he said testily.  


“No, no, I mean,” Nezumi cursed himself mentally. _Me and my fucking mouth._ “I mean… Thank you, Shion.”  


Shion searched Nezumi’s face for a hint of sarcasm or mockery, but it only showed sincerity. Shion smiled. “You're welcome. Come on, eat up.”  


Nezumi took another bite of eggs. _They really are delicious._ He glanced over at Shion, happily eating his own eggs. _You never cease to amaze me in some way, Shion._  


Shion felt Nezumi’s eyes on him. “What is it?”  


“W-what?”  


“You were staring at me.”  


“I was not,” Nezumi said, hoping that the blush he felt wasn’t visible to Shion. “Why would I be staring at you? You’re not _that_ good-looking.”  


“Your words wound me,” Shion said sarcastically. _He was definitely looking at me._ Shion took a sip of coffee and looked at Nezumi out of the corner of his eye. _What are you thinking?_ The relaxed openness that Shion had seen on Nezumi’s face last night was gone, replaced by the cool facade he always wore. _It’s so hard to tell with you sometimes._  


“Oh, hey, where’s your mom?” Nezumi asked. He had just realized he hadn’t seen Karan yet, and he couldn’t believe she would still be sleeping at almost one in the afternoon.  


“She went out to run some errands. She said she’d be back in a bit.”  


“Ah.” The two boys finished breakfast in a peaceful silence. Nezumi finished off his coffee and then turned to Shion, asking, “So, do we have any plans for today?”  


Shion stood up from the table, carrying his plate and mug over to the sink. “Well, I don’t have anything planned. But for right now I need to clean up. Is there anything you want to do today?” He plugged up the sink, poured in some dish soap, and turned on the faucet, filling up the basin with warm soapy water.  


Nezumi shrugged. “I’ll think about it. Let me help you do the dishes.” He brought his own plate and mug to the sink and squeezed next to Shion.  


“Nezumi, it’s fine, there’s not enough room for both of us. I got it, you can go get dressed and stuff. Figure out what you want to do.”  


Nezumi didn’t move. “You let me sleep in, cooked breakfast, and you want to wash up by yourself? Nah, I’m helping.” He grabbed a sponge and nudged Shion over with his hip.  


Shion laughed and moved over to make what room he could for Nezumi. “Fine, fine. Here,” he said, passing Nezumi a sponge. “There’s a few dishes from last night that didn’t get finished and then the breakfast dishes from this morning, obviously.”  


“Okay. Doesn’t sound like it’s too much then,” Nezumi said. “Pass me that pan.”  


Shion grabbed the pan he had used to cook the eggs and passed it to Nezumi - well, tried to pass it to Nezumi. It slipped out of his already-wet hands halfway across the sink and splashed into the soapy water, sloshing a good bit of water onto Nezumi’s shirt. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry Nezumi!” Shion looked around for a dry towel.  


“It’s fine Shion. It’s just water,” Nezumi said. He grinned and dunked his sponge into the soapy water. “But here, allow me to pay you back, Your Highness,” he said, and as Shion turned around with a confused look on his face, Nezumi tossed the sponge at him, smacking him right in the cheek. Nezumi started laughing at Shion’s surprised, now soapy face.  


Shion’s surprised look quickly vanished and was replaced with a mischievous one. “So that’s how you wanna do this, then?” he said, bending down to pick up the sponge Nezumi had thrown. “Alright, two can play at this game.” He quickly threw Nezumi’s sponge back at him, but Nezumi’s hand shot out and caught it when it was still a safe distance away from him. _I figured you would catch it_ , Shion thought. _But I know you weren’t expecting this!_ Shion whipped out his own sponge that he had still been holding and threw that one at Nezumi as well. As Shion had predicted, Nezumi wasn’t expecting him to have more than one sponge, and this time it was Shion laughing at Nezumi’s shocked face as the second sponge hit him right on his neck.  


Nezumi’s eyes widened when he saw the second sponge flying at him. _Shit_ was all he had time to think before the wet, soapy rectangle smacked into his neck - right in the jugular. He gasped and doubled over. The sponge hadn’t really hurt him; he was trying to trick Shion, hoping he would come over to make sure Nezumi was okay. He did.  


“Nezumi? Oh gosh, did I throw it too hard?” Shion went over to Nezumi, who was still doubled over, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? I didn’t mean to -”  


Before he could finish, Nezumi had straightened back up and shoved both sponges up against Shion’s cheeks, gently squishing his face with the soapy sponges. “Gotcha,” he whispered, smirking. His forehead was resting against Shion’s, and Nezumi could tell Shion was trying to make a pouty face - which didn’t really work considering his cheeks were being smushed.  


Shion was annoyed with himself for falling for Nezumi’s trick. _Obviously I didn’t throw it that hard. Plus, it’s a sponge, it wouldn’t hurt that bad even if it was thrown kinda hard._ But then he had an idea. _Well if Nezumi is gonna play dirty, then I will too._ Shion reached up to where Nezumi was holding the sponges against his face. “Okay, okay, you win. Can you take these off my face please?”  


Nezumi laughed and let go of Shion’s face and handed him back his sponge. “Apologies, Your Majesty. I might’ve gotten a little carried away. Now come on, we should probably try to finish these dishes before Karan gets home, right?”  


Shion nodded. “Oh, but first, real quick,” he said, and when Nezumi turned to face him, he wrapped an arm around Nezumi’s neck and pulled him into a kiss.  


Nezumi wrapped his arms around Shion’s waist and kissed him back. After a minute, he pulled his head back and looked at Shion. “What was that for?”  


Shion smiled. “Oh, you know,” he said, and then dropped his sponge down the back of Nezumi’s shirt. “Payback.”  


Nezumi gasped when he felt the cold sponge slip down his back. He jerked back from Shion and reached his arms as far back as he could, trying to grab the sponge and pull it out of his shirt. He finally shook it out and shivered, the cold water now soaked into the front and back of his shirt. “You…” he gave Shion a hurt look. “That was just cruel,” Nezumi said, mock-betrayal in his voice.  


“Aw, I’m sorry,” Shion said, not sounding very sorry at all. “Wanna call a truce then?” He stuck his hand out for a handshake.  


Nezumi grabbed Shion’s hand and pulled him close, his arms wrapped around his hips again. “I suppose so,” he said. He noticed soap bubbles still on Shion’s face and laughed, brushing them off with his fingers. “I guess we should actually do the dishes now, huh?”  


Shion smiled back at Nezumi. “Yeah, probably,” he said. “But do you want to go change shirts first? This one is pretty soaked.”  


Nezumi shrugged. “Nah, I don’t want to get another shirt wet. I’ll just take this one off and then go change after we finish washing up.”  


“Alright,” Shion said. He stepped out of Nezumi’s embrace and picked up his sponge from the floor. _I’m gonna need to wipe up the floor too now_ , he thought. “It might be easier to do this if one person washes and the other dries. Do you have a preference?”  


Nezumi pulled off his shirt and draped it over one of the kitchen chairs. “I guess I can wash, I mean I’ve already gotten soaked so it doesn’t matter if I get more water splashed on me.”  


“Okay. Well here,” Shion passed Nezumi his sponge and then found a dry towel in a drawer. “I’ll start drying the dishes that I finished washing and you can just pass me the dishes you wash when you’re done with them.”  


“Sounds good,” Nezumi said. The two starting washing and drying in a contented silence. They finished doing the dishes pretty quickly with both of them working, and after all the dishes were dry, they worked together to put them all away. “Well, that’s that done,” Nezumi said, dusting off his hands. “I guess I should go change then.”  


Shion made a pouty face. “Do you _have_ to?” he fake-whined. “I mean, I personally am quite enjoying the view.”  


Nezumi covered his chest with his arms as if embarrassed. “Oh, is that all I am to you, Your Highness? Eye candy?”  


“Of course not!” Shion replied. “But it is a nice bonus,” he grinned.  


Nezumi laughed and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. “Well, I suppose that’s fair.”  


Shion walked over to Nezumi and sat on his lap. “So I guess you’re not changing then?” he said, draping his arms around Nezumi’s neck.  


“Well, if Your Majesty doesn’t want me to, then I suppose I’m not,” Nezumi replied.  


Shion laughed. “Ah, how courteous of you,” he said jokingly. He rested his forehead against Nezumi’s, looking into his guarded gray eyes. “I really love you, you know?” he said softly.  


Nezumi smiled and ran his fingers through Shion’s hair. “I know.” He paused and looked to the side. “And...I love you too…” he mumbled, looking back at Shion. He had a sweet, innocent smile spread across his face, and his strange red eyes were filled with happiness. Nezumi couldn’t help but smile as well, and he pulled Shion into a soft, gentle kiss.  


Shion knew he must have a ridiculous-looking smile on his face but he didn’t care. Nezumi was always so guarded, so cautious with what he chose to say and reveal about what he was feeling that whenever he did tell Shion he loved him, it made Shion feel like his heart would burst from happiness. Shion wove his fingers through Nezumi’s long hair as they kissed, nothing on his mind except this moment right here, right now.  


The moment was interrupted by the sound of the front door unlocking. Shion jerked his head back from Nezumi, looked at the front door, which was visible from the kitchen, then looked at Nezumi with eyes wide with fear. “Mom,” Shion whispered, unable to say anything else. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might give out entirely. _What do I do?!_  


Nezumi was confused at first when Shion pulled away from him so quickly. He followed Shion’s gaze to the front door, which was already swinging open by the time Nezumi looked back at Shion and heard him whisper “mom.” _Oh no,_ he thought. _There’s not enough time -_  
The door opened all the way, Karan standing in the doorway with grocery bags in each hand. Shion, Nezumi, and Karan all froze when they saw each other. Karan looked back and forth between her son and his ‘friend’ whose lap he was sitting on.  


“...Shion?”


	14. Shakespeare and Potato Soup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( so so so sorry for the long gap between updates! i was having a really difficult time last semester, i was really depressed and couldnt really do much of anything. im feeling much better now, ive worked some things out so im in a better place, so hopefully i should be able to update at least _slightly_ more regularly. again im really sorry, i hope you guys enjoy this new chapter. i really appreciate all of your kudos and nice comments and patience with me, it means a lot! ))
> 
> ((edit: there might also be a lot of typos in this chapter; i mostly wrote it at 3-4 AM so i probably missed a lot of things x.x i apologize for any typos and i hope you guys enjoy the chapter ^.^ ))

“...Shion?”

Shion jumped off of Nezumi’s lap. “Mom it’s not...I mean, I can explain...um…” Shion floundered for words, unsure of what to say or do or what was going to happen next.

Nezumi stood up and grabbed his damp shirt. “Uh...I’m just gonna...go change,” he said, and slipped out of the kitchen, heading to Shion’s room.  


Shion rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with his mom. “Um...do you need any help with the bags?” he asked as Karan made her way to the kitchen.  


Karan placed the two bags on the kitchen table. “No, it was just these two. But thank you.” She unloaded the bags and started putting the groceries away. “He’s very cute,” she said.  


Shion took a deep breath and started talking, speaking quickly in his nervousness. “Look Mom I can explain I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I just -” He stopped as he processed what Karan had said. “Wait, what?”  


“I said he’s very cute,” Karan said, and sat down at the kitchen table, having finished putting away the groceries.  


“Oh.” Shion sat down at the table as well. “So...you’re not like…”  


“Mad? Uncomfortable? Upset?” Karan said. “Of course not. I am a little sad you didn’t just tell me, and that you thought I would be upset about it,” Karan paused, then continued, “But I do understand you being worried to tell me. But no, Shion, I’m not bothered or upset at all.”  


Shion sighed. “O-oh, okay...Thanks, Mom,” Shion gave his mom a relieved smile.  


“Besides,” Karan added, a bit of a sly smile on her lips, “I sort of figured it out a while ago.”  


Shion’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?! How -”  


“Well, whenever you would contact me and update me on everything, you often talked about your roommate,” Karan said. “‘Oh, Mom, he’s so frustrating - sometimes he’s cold and sometimes he’s sweet and I never know which one to believe,’” Karan teased Shion and his face got increasingly red in embarrassment. “‘Mom, I went to see him at his theater practice this week and he was so beautiful, he’s a really good actor and has a nice singing voice.’”  


“Mom!” Shion exclaimed, his face burning. “I didn’t -”  


“Shion, you’re incredibly smart and very talented,” Karan said, smiling at her son, “but you are very, very bad at being subtle.” She got up and went over to Shion. “I love you honey,” Karan hugged him and and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.  


Shion’s blush subsided and he hugged his mom back. “Love you too Mom,” he said. He paused for a second and then asked, “Was it really that obvious?”  


Karan laughed. “Well, maybe you didn’t say those exact things, but yes, it was pretty obvious.” Karan looked around the kitchen. “Did you two do the dishes this morning - or rather, this afternoon?”  


Shion nodded. “Yeah, I made us some eggs and then Nezumi and I washed the dishes from last night and from our breakfast.”  


“Well, thank you! That was nice of you to do. I closed the bakery for today, but I’m planning on going back to get ahead on pastries for tomorrow. Do you and Nezumi have any plans for the rest of the day?”  


“We were actually talking about that before you got back,” Shion said. “We haven’t decided on anything yet. I’ll talk to Nezumi about it. Oh, if you’re going out to the bakery then we don’t have the car to use...I’ll see what’s close or bus accessible that we could do.”  


Karan shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. You two can just drop me off at the bakery when you head out, and depending on how late you two stay out and how late I stay at the bakery you can either bring me back home or I can take the bus.”  


“Are you sure?”  


“Yes, it’s fine. I don’t mind riding the bus, and it’s your break! You go have some fun.” Karan crossed her arms, a serious look appearing on her face. “But if you’re going to take the car, you know the rules: not a scratch, and dont be back later -”  


“Later than 1 am, yeah I know. Thanks, Mom.” Shion left the kitchen and went to his room to talk to Nezumi.  


Nezumi had changed by now and was sitting on the bed, legs crossed, reading a book. He looked up when Shion walked in. “What did she say? Is she...okay with us?”  


Shion nodded, sitting down on the bed next to Nezumi. “Yeah, it’s totally fine.” Shion’s cheeks got a little red again. “Um, actually...she said she kinda already figured it out before we even came here…”  


Nezumi smirked. “Makes sense. You’re not super subtle, are you?”  


Shion frowned and tossed a pillow at Nezumi, who just caught it and laughed.  


“So anyways,” Shion changed the subject, “Mom said I could take the car as long as we drop her off at the bakery first, so what do you want to do today?”  


Nezumi shrugged. “I don’t really know what there is to do here, so why don’t you pick?”  


Shion crossed his arms. “You’re just saying that so I have to decide, aren’t you?”  


Nezumi grinned. “Well, only partly. I really _don’t_ know what there is around here.”  


Shion tilted his head, thinking. “Well, there are a couple of museums, and we could always go to the movies, although I’m not sure what movies are playing right now. Um…”  


“Is there a library?”  


“Huh?” Shion said, surprised. “Oh. Um, yeah there is. It’s not very big but it’s still pretty nice. Do you wanna go there?” _I didn’t really think Nezumi would want to go to a library as a first choice for a day out._  


“I mean, we don’t have to. If you want to, we can go,” Nezumi said, acting a little _too_ nonchalant about it.  


Shion rolled his eyes. “If you want to go we can go, just say so.”  


“I mean...I wouldn’t _mind_ if we went check it out…”  


“God, you’re annoying sometimes. We can go to the library.”  


_Yes!_ Nezumi thought. To Shion, however, he simply said, “Okay, sounds cool.”  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------  


After dropping Karan off at the bakery, the two boys arrived at the small local library. “Well, here we are,” Shion said as they got out of the car. “Our little, humble library. It’s not much, but still...” He looked over at Nezumi out of the corner of his eye. Nezumi’s eyes were shining, and he looked more excited than Shion had seen him in a while. _Man, he’s cute_ , Shion thought, smiling. “Well? Let’s go in!” He grabbed Nezumi’s hand and headed towards the entrance.  


Nezumi hadn’t been to a library in a very, very long time. There was the library at school, but he didn’t spend a lot of time in there. He didn’t know why, it just felt...impersonal; it didn’t feel homely. He stood, just staring at the building, and only snapped out of his reverie when Shion grabbed his hand. Nezumi started to walk, following Shion, but stopped suddenly, pulling Shion to a stop as well.  


“What is it?” Shion asked, looking back at Nezumi. “Why are you stopping?”  


Nezumi looked down at their entwined fingers. “Well...I don’t know what…” he struggled to find the right words. “What if people, like…What if people see us and…” _Ugh, what am I saying? Why do I care what other people think?_ Nezumi thought, frustrated with himself.  


“Hey,” Shion walked over so he was standing right in front of Nezumi. “I say screw ’em,” he said. “But, if it worries you, we can just go in as ‘friends’ if you want. I get it,” Shion smiled softly. _I didn't know Nezumi was insecure about this kind of thing_ , he thought. _He always seems so cool and composed and unconcerned about what other people think. There’s still a lot more to him than I know..._  


Nezumi’s cheeks flushed and he looked away. “I-it’s whatever, I mean it doesn’t matter…” _How are you so confident about this? You’re always the one who’s worrying over things_ , Nezumi thought. He took a deep breath and looked back at Shion. “It’s...it’s okay. Let’s go in.”  


Shion didn’t move, studying Nezumi’s face. “Are you sure? It’s really okay if -”  


“I said it’s fine,” Nezumi cut Shion off. _Dammit. He was just being considerate, I shouldn’t have snapped at him._ “S-sorry,” Nezumi mumbled. “It’s fine, I promise.”  


Shion was taken aback by Nezumi’s sudden snap. He was about to get frustrated at him, but then he heard Nezumi say he was sorry. _He apologized_ , Shion thought. _He gets snippy a lot but he doesn’t usually apologize. I’ll let it slide...this time, at least._ He smiled and turned back towards the doors to the library. “Come on, don’t you want to go in? Or did you just want to look at the outside of the building?” Shion teased, looking back over his shoulder at Nezumi.  


Nezumi fake-frowned at Shion’s teasing. “Alright alright, I’m coming,” he said, and the two walked into the library, hand in hand.  


“I sort of forget how it’s organized,” Shion said, looking at the rows of shelves, “but I’m sure it’s not hard to figure out. Is there anything you wanted to look for in particular?” 

He looked over at Nezumi and saw his gray eyes lit up with excitement once more. _God, he really is so cute._

Nezumi looked at the rows of shelves and held back the desire to sprint right over to them. “Huh? Oh, uh, I’m not sure…” he answered. “We can just wander around and see if we can find anything interesting I guess.”  


Shion could tell Nezumi was itching to go peruse the books. “Lead the way, then,” he said, and before he could even finish he felt Nezumi pulling him towards the shelves. Shion grinned and followed Nezumi, letting him pull him to various shelves and sections throughout the library. Every once in awhile Nezumi would stop at a shelf and pull a book or two off, skimming through them before carefully placing them back exactly where he got them. Shion noticed how delicately Nezumi handled the books; it was almost like they were some sort of fragile, sacred object that needed to be treated with extreme care. Shion barely paid attention to what section they were in at any point; he was focused on Nezumi, gazing at him as he eagerly moved about the library.  


Nezumi couldn’t get enough of the books; he wanted to read so many of them all at once. They eventually wound up at the section containing Shakespeare’s works. Nezumi stopped walking and began to scan the titles, searching for Shakespeare’s plays and, within those, his tragedies. He didn’t notice Shion gazing at him; didn’t notice anything aside from the books. He was immersed in the hundreds of years old stories, preserved in yellowing paper and tattered bindings, infused with the dusty smell of well-loved tales.  


Shion noticed Nezumi wasn’t moving on from their current section and looked to see where they were. _Shakespeare, huh?_ He remembered Nezumi’s theater class, how they had been practicing to put on _Hamlet_. Shion glanced down and saw Nezumi kneeling by one of the bottom shelves, avidly reading through one of the books he’d pulled off. “Hey, Nezumi.” No response. “Nezumi,” Shion said a little louder. Still Nezumi said nothing, absorbed in the book he had. Shion huffed and pushed Nezumi’s shoulder lightly. “Nezumi!”

Nezumi jumped when Shion touched him and he looked up quickly, whipping around to face Shion. “Huh?! What?!”  


“You know you can check some books out, right? You don’t have to try to speed-read them here. You can bring them back to the house to read,” Shion said. He held up an old library card. “We haven’t used it in a while but it should still work.”  


Nezumi looked from Shion to the library card to the books he was holding and then back to Shion. It seemed to take him a minute to process what Shion said, having been jolted out of his reading reverie. “Oh, right. Uh, yeah, I want to check some of these out.” He sifted through the books around him and picked out three of them before putting the others back on the shelf.  


“That it? Okay, well follow me, I’ll show you where you can check them out and then we can head home if you want to,” Shion said.  


Nezumi followed Shion to the self-checkout area. Shion swiped the card and held out his hand for the books, but Nezumi didn’t hand them over. “I can do it myself,” he said.  


Shion didn’t know why Nezumi was being weird about checking the books out. “Uh, okay, go ahead then,” he said, moving over so Nezumi could reach the scanner.  


Nezumi swiped his three books across the panel and glanced at Shion, who was not-so-sneakily trying to see what the books were. “What?” he asked indignantly.  


“Nothing,” Shion answered. “I was just wondering what you got.”  


Nezumi turned the books so Shion could see the titles: _Othello_ , _Hamlet_ , and _Macbeth_. “Shakespeare’s good okay, and his tragedies are great,” he said.  


“I’ve already seen you in Hamlet, and I literally said nothing about you getting those.”  


Nezumi’s face flushed. “Yeah, well...whatever. Do we need to go pick up your mom on the way back?”  


Shion shook his head at Nezumi’s unreasonable guardedness. “I’m not sure, I’ll text her.” The two left the library and headed to the car, and Shion’s phone buzzed as they got in. “She said she’s gonna stay a little later at the bakery, and that depending on how late it is she’ll either ask us to pick her up when she’s done or she’ll just ride the bus back.”  


“Okay. So, are we just going home?” Nezumi asked.  


“Unless there’s somewhere else you want to go,” Shion said.  


Nezumi’s stomach growled and he checked the time on his phone: 6:45. “I think I want to just head home and eat if that’s alright with you.”  


“Sounds good to me. I don’t think we have any leftovers so I’ll have to make something…”  


“No no, my prince,” Nezumi said. “I’ll make dinner tonight. You did breakfast, I’ll do dinner.”  


Shion smiled. “Alright. May I ask what you have in mind?”  


Nezumi shook his head, grinning. “It’s a surprise.”  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------  


Shion wandered into the kitchen, following a delicious scent that was spread throughout the house. When the two had arrived home, Nezumi kicked Shion out of the kitchen while he made dinner, so Shion went to shower and change into his pajamas early. “It smells good,” he said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. “Am I allowed in yet, or am I gonna get kicked out again?” he joked.  


“You can come in. It’s just about ready,” Nezumi said. “If you could grab bowls and spoons for us while I finish up that would be great.”  


“Bowls and spoons, huh? Are we having soup?” Shion asked as he set the table for the two of them.  


“You’re a genius,” Nezumi teased. “Yes, we are indeed having soup.” He brought the pot to the table and set it down on a worn potholder. “Potato and chicken soup, to be exact.” Nezumi picked up Shion’s bowl and ladled some of the soup into it. “Careful, it’s hot.”  


Shion took the bowl back from Nezumi. “Thank you. It smells really good.” He got a spoonful and blew on it to cool it down before trying it. “Mmm! It’s delicious!”  


Nezumi couldn’t hold back a satisfied smile. “Your praise is my life, Your Majesty,” he said as he served himself some soup as well. The two ate in silence for a bit, enjoying the hot meal after they’d been so hungry. Nezumi noticed that Shion looked lost in thought. “What is it?” he asked. “Is something wrong, Shion?”  


Shion looked up when he heard Nezumi’s voice. “Hm? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how I didn’t know you could cook.”  


Nezumi pressed his hand to his chest dramatically, as if he’d been insulted. “Of course I can cook, who do you think I am?” Shion gave him a small smile but didn’t reply. Nezumi’s brow furrowed in concern. “There’s something else though, isn’t there? I can tell. What’s up, Shion?”  


Shion sighed. “I don’t know...I guess I just sort of realized that there’s still a lot I don’t know about you,” he said, looking down at his bowl.  


“Shion.”  


Shion looked up at Nezumi; the gray-eyed boy was now the one avoiding Shion’s eyes, looking over to the side. “Y-yeah?”  


“Shion, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know about you either. And sometimes…” Nezumi took a deep breath in and out, his hands clenched in fists under the table. “Sometimes it...scares me. You scare me. At one moment you can be so kind, so sweet, so...vulnerable, but then you can be cold, or tough, or...I don’t know...commanding.” Nezumi rubbed his hands over his face. “Ugh, I don’t know if this makes any sense. But I just...You’re such a mystery to me. Sometimes you’re so easy to read, and other times I have no idea what you’re thinking. So…” Nezumi finally looked up and met Shion’s deep red eyes. “So don’t think you have to know everything about me right away. That’s the point of a relationship, right? To learn more about each other and spend time together.”  


Shion’s eyes were wide as he listened to Nezumi. _Scared of me? Mystery?_ “Nezumi…” Shion said softly, “I had no idea…”  


Nezumi blushed and looked away from Shion’s gaze. “W-well, it’s fine. Um, a-anyways, if you’re done eating then I should, uh, clean up now.” He grabbed the pot and brought it over to the counter by the sink. “What should I do with the, uh, the leftovers?”  


_He’s always got to change the subject after he says something sweet, doesn’t he_ , Shion thought. _Oh, Nezumi...you can let your feelings out, you know_. Shion smiled to himself. “There’s tupperware in the cabinet to the left of the fridge,” he said. “You can put what’s left in there, and I can do the dishes since there’s not many.”  


“Alright, sounds good. Thanks,” Nezumi said, putting away the leftover soup. “Should we leave a note for your mom saying that there’s some dinner made if she wants it?”  


Shion nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. There are sticky notes in the drawer over there,” he gestured with his elbow while he filled up the sink with water to wash the few dishes there were.  


After Shion finished the dishes and Nezumi showered, the two settled into Shion’s bed with _Hamlet_. Nezumi read it aloud dramatically while Shion watched him, starry-eyed.  


After a while of reading, Nezumi stopped and noticed that Shion had fallen asleep. He folded the page of the book, set it on the night table next to the bed, and pulled the covers up over himself and Shion. Nezumi gently stroked Shion’s cheek, whispering, “Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love.” He kissed Shion on the forehead, settled into bed himself, and drifted off to sleep.


	15. MarioKart and Bakeries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( sorry its been a while since the last update, ive been pretty busy with school lately - Latin is really hard! >.< i hope yall enjoy this chapter, and i have the next one almost finished so i should be able to update after this one fairly quickly. oh, and also, just to keep yall on your toes a little...theres some smut coming up in the next chapter... ;) so you can look forward to that whenever i update next ;D as always, thank yall for your support, comments, kudos, and patience! i appreciate all of it ^.^ thank you! <3 ))

Nezumi woke up to the sound of birds singing outside. He opened his eyes halfway and saw Shion, still asleep. A small smile crossed Nezumi’s face and he gently kissed Shion’s forehead, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of the white-haired boy sleeping in his arms. He glanced up at the clock in the room; it was a little before 10 am. Nezumi felt Shion shift in his embrace and looked back at him just as he yawned and slowly opened his own eyes.

“Morning...Nezumi…” Shion said between yawns, his voice slightly slurred from sleepiness.

“Morning, my prince,” Nezumi replied, brushing Shion’s hair out of his face. “Did I wake you?”

Shion shook his head, smiling up at Nezumi. “No, not at all.” He scooched himself out of Nezumi’s hold and sat up, stretching his arms. “Did you just wake up too?”

Nezumi sat up as well and nodded. “Yeah, just a minute before you did.”

Shion sighed, satisfied from his stretch, and checked the time as well. “Ten, huh? I wonder if Mom has left yet…” He turned to Nezumi. “Want to get some breakfast?”

Nezumi nodded again. “Sounds good to me.” He slipped out of the bed after Shion and followed him to the kitchen. “Was Karan planning on leaving early today?”

Shion shrugged in reply. “She just said that today was gonna be busy, that’s why she prepped so much yesterday. I’m not sure if- Oh, wait a minute.” He stopped as he saw a note stuck to the refrigerator, written in Karan’s neat handwriting. “‘I’ve already headed to the bakery, took the bus, feel free to come join me later if you want. Love, Mom,’” he read aloud. “Would you want to go see the bakery later?” Shion asked Nezumi, who had just plopped himself down at the kitchen table.

“Yeah, sure,” Nezumi replied. “Sounds fun, and tasty.” His stomach grumbled. “Speaking of, what’s for breakfast? Are you going to make a fine meal for us again, Your Highness?”

Shion huffed at Nezumi’s teasing and looked around the kitchen, trying to decide what he wanted to do for breakfast. A covered plate on the counter by the sink caught his eye. “No, I am not,” he replied. “It looks like Mom left us some goodies from her baking yesterday.” He brought the plate over to the table and uncovered it, revealing several delicious-looking, homemade chocolate chip muffins.

Nezumi’s mouth watered at the sight of the muffins. “Those look good,” he said, reaching out to grab one. “Your mom is the best.”

Shion grinned and sat down in the chair next to Nezumi. “She is pretty great,” he said, grabbing a muffin for himself. “So, what do you want to do today?” he asked as the two of them ate.

Nezumi practically inhaled his muffin and reached for a second one. “I dunno,” he said around a mouthful of pastry. He looked out towards the front door, absently scanning the living room. The Wii caught his eye. “Hey, you know we never resolved that tied race from the other night. You know, in MarioKart?”

“Oh yeah. We said we’d finish the next morning and then we forgot, huh,” Shion replied, going for his second muffin. “Did you want to do that?”

Nezumi grinned. “Of course. After all, I have to prove once and for all that I’m a better racer than you, don’t I?”

Shion raised an eyebrow. “Oh, is that a challenge?”

“Obviously.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll have to finish this then, won’t we?” Shion finished eating his second muffin. “Are you done eating? Ready to get your ass kicked?”

“Someone’s confident, huh?” Nezumi smirked. “I’m ready if you are.”

The two left the kitchen and moved to the adjacent living room, sitting side-by-side on the couch. Shion set up the game and handed Nezumi a controller, saying, “Good luck - you’re gonna need it,” a determined grin spread across his face.

“I’m not the one who’s gonna be needing luck,” Nezumi replied. “Now, you better show me that you’re not just all talk, Your Majesty.”

After an intense race with lots of yelling and cursing from both boys, Nezumi came out victorious. “Hah! I told you I was a better racer,” he teased, a smug look on his face.

Shion laughed. “Yeah, I guess so...or you just got lucky,” he replied.

“Oh, you think so? Well, would you like to play again for an attempt to regain your lost pride?” Nezumi said. “Remember that if I win again, that would solidify that I’m better than you since I would’ve won twice in a row. Are you sure you want to risk that?”

Shion looked at the boy sitting next to him on the couch. Nezumi’s hair was still down, hanging loosely around his shoulders, his bangs long and messily pushed back from his face, slipping out from being tucked behind his ears. His hair was dark against his pale skin, and his eyes looked brighter in the morning light. _Grey eyes…_ Shion thought. _Like a winter storm._ His eyes traveled from Nezumi’s eyes to his lips, soft and pink and smiling at Shion. _Nezumi’s lips…_ Suddenly, Shion remembered something else from the night they had had the MarioKart competition - from later in the night, when he had woken up to see Nezumi staring at him. He felt a sudden warmth rise up in him and he hoped it wasn’t evident on his face, hoped he wasn’t blushing as much as he felt he must be. _That’s right...That night, Nezumi-_

“Shion? Hello, Earth to Shion.”

Nezumi’s voice interrupted Shion’s thoughts. “H-huh? What?” he stammered, feeling his cheeks flush again.

“I asked if you wanted to race again or if you wanted to accept your defeat,” Nezumi said. “Are you...alright? You looked kinda zoned out there for a minute.”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Shion said. But he couldn’t get the memory of that night out of his mind. All of a sudden, he had an idea. “Actually...I was thinking we could do something...a little more fun, maybe,” Shion said, setting his controller down on the floor.

Nezumi was confused, unsure of what Shion meant. “More fun?” he asked jokingly. “It’s MarioKart, what could be more fu- ” He was cut off as Shion pulled him towards him and pressed his mouth against his, one hand at the back of Nezumi’s neck, tangled in his long dark hair, the other on his chest, clutching his T-shirt tightly.

 _Holy fuck,_ Nezumi thought, completely caught off guard. _What is going on. Shion initiated this. This hasn’t happened before._ He was totally thrown off, Shion’s action coming seemingly out of the blue. The two pulled apart for a second, catching their breath, and Nezumi muttered, “Shion…” He looked down at Shion’s face, which was a bit flushed, but Shion looked neither bashful nor embarrassed. 

Shion loosened his grip on Nezumi’s neck when he heard him whisper Shion’s name. He pulled back a little, thinking that Nezumi wanted him to stop. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice quiet. Shion looked up at Nezumi through his eyelashes. “Do you want me to stop?”

Nezumi gazed at Shion, captured by his beauty. He felt Shion pull away a little and ask if Nezumi wanted him to stop. “N-no...no.” The second time he said it was a little more firm, and he looked into Shion’s eyes, not feeling as dazed or surprised as he was at first. “Shion…” Nezumi mumbled, and he leaned his face down towards Shion’s again, inviting him to kiss him again.

Shion heard Nezumi’s quiet answer and his soft whisper of Shion’s name and his heart started beating a little faster. _Shit_ , Shion thought; this time he was the one being drawn so strongly to the other. Shion noticed Nezumi lowering his head towards him and accepted his invitation, pressing his mouth against Nezumi’s once again. He climbed over Nezumi so he was straddling him, knees on either side of Nezumi’s legs, with one hand tangled in Nezumi’s hair at the back of his neck and the other hand wrapped around Nezumi’s back, gripping his shirt tightly.

Nezumi felt Shion kissing him again and felt his arms wrapped around him, pulling Nezumi close. He placed one hand of the small of Shion’s back, the other rested on his chest. Nezumi couldn’t think, could only feel the slight pull of his hair from Shion’s hand on the back of his head, Shion’s heart beating under his hand, Shion’s mouth and lips and tongue on his own.

Shion could feel Nezumi’s hand on his back, keeping him from slipping off the couch, but not holding him particularly close. Shion used the hand he had behind Nezumi’s back to pull himself closer, moving up as much as he could, until his hips were almost pressed right against Nezumi’s.

Nezumi felt Shion pull himself closer, felt the other boy’s groin pressed up almost right against his own. His hand on Shion’s chest tightened its grip on his shirt and he pulled back slightly. Nezumi didn’t know why he pulled away, he was just...he felt flustered and confused, uncertain and a little afraid.

Shion felt Nezumi’s hand grip his shirt and felt him pull away. Shion pulled his head back and looked at Nezumi’s face. “Nezumi…?”

Nezumi looked up at Shion, who was looking at him with a slightly concerned look on his face. “Ah...I…” he floundered for words; he wasn’t even sure of what he wanted to say. Before he had to answer, however, Shion’s phone buzzed, surprising both boys.

“Oh, uh, it’s my mom,” Shion stammered, and climbed off of Nezumi and off of the couch, walking to the kitchen to answer the phone. “Hey, Mom. Yeah. No, not really. Um…” Shion glanced quickly back at the couch where Nezumi was still sitting. “Y-yeah, he’s up too. Oh, uh, that’d be cool. I’ll ask him. Okay. I’ll see you in a little bit. Love you.” Shion hung up and walked back to the living room area. He sat down on the couch next to Nezumi, but with a safe amount of space in between them, not touching, a slightly awkward tension formed between the two. “So, uh, Mom asked if we wanted to go to the bakery for lunch and then maybe help out a little. Would you want to do that?” Shion asked.

“Oh, uh, sure,” Nezumi stammered, not looking at Shion. “That sounds fun.” _Oh my god_ , he thought, _what is going on? Why am I freaking out about this?_ He noticed Shion stand up and heard him ask if he was ready to go, to which he nodded absently. Nezumi stood up as well and just followed behind Shion, lost in his thoughts. _Why did Shion even do that? It was so out of the blue. We were just playing MarioKart and then suddenly we were making out and…_

“Uh, Nezumi?” Shion asked. Nezumi seemed to have been staring off into space for the last couple of minutes. _Did I break him or something?_ “Nezumi,” Shion repeated, waving his hand in front of Nezumi’s face.

Nezumi snapped out of his blankness. “Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking I guess, haha,” he laughed awkwardly.

Shion furrowed his brow, confused at Nezumi’s weird behavior. _Is this because of us making out?_ he thought. _I didn’t think Nezumi would be one to get so flustered...He certainly wasn’t acting like this that other night._ “Okay, well, Mom’s waiting for us at the bakery,” he said, and they headed out, spending the short drive in an awkward silence.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Karan was happy to see the two boys when they arrived at the bakery. Nezumi acted like his usual cool, collected self, trying to regain and maintain his composure in front of Shion’s mother. Shion noticed this and thought that he must have imagined whatever weirdness had happened before, that he had just been overthinking it. The two boys ate a delightful lunch of sandwiches on freshly-baked bread, and then joined Karan in the front part of the bakery to help her sell pastries, as it was indeed busy as she had predicted yesterday.

Nezumi and Shion ended up helping out at the bakery for a couple of hours; they had both relaxed after a while, Nezumi seeming to have forgotten about what happened earlier - or perhaps avoiding thinking about it. Karan told the two that after closing the bakery, she was going to spend the evening at her friend Renka’s, who had just had a baby. Karan informed them that she was going to spend the night there and help take care of the newborn so that Renka would be able to get some sleep. The two boys stayed until Karan closed, drove her to Renka’s to drop her off, and then headed home, getting the house to themselves for the night.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, that was fun,” Shion said, kicking his shoes off once they got back inside his house. “But I am beat. Mom wasn’t kidding, it was super busy!”

“Not used to doing hard work, Your Highness?” Nezumi teased. He laughed as Shon scowled at him. “Calm down, I’m tired too. Definitely ready to relax for the evening.”

“Yeah…” Shion trailed off, thoughts circling in his mind. _Relax for the evening...just us two, alone in the house...Mom’s gone for the evening...it’s just us, alone…_ He walked into the living room and dropped himself onto the couch, leaning his head back and staring up at the ceiling. His mind went back to what had happened earlier that day, on that same couch, and what had happened a couple of nights ago, and he couldn’t help but blush as he thought, once again, about how they were going to be alone…

“Shion!” Nezumi called from the kitchen. “Hey, do you want some of this leftover soup? I think there’s just about enough left for us to each have a serving.”

Shion was brought back from his thoughts by Nezumi’s voice and the prospect of food; he had gotten hungry after working for so long, having had a small breakfast and a bit of an early lunch. “Yeah, thanks,” he said, joining Nezumi in the kitchen.

Nezumi heated two bowls of soup and passed one to Shion, joining him at the table. “Mmm,” he said after taking a bite, “It’s still delicious, if I do say so myself. It is pretty hot though, you might want to blow on it some before you eat it.”

Shion absently pushes his spoon around in his bowl, watching Nezumi’s every move. _He’s so beautiful_ , he thought. _God, it’s just not fair. Is this what pining for someone feels like?_ He sighed, wishing he could just have Nezumi to himself forever.

Nezumi looked up at Shion when he heard him sigh. “Shion?” he asked. “You okay? Is the soup okay?” He was totally clueless as to what Shion was thinking; he didn’t notice the slight blush in Shion’s cheeks nor the clear longing in his eyes.

Shion started when he heard Nezumi speak to him. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. The soup is good too, thanks for making it,” he said, taking a big spoonful - which he instantly regretted as it was still very hot and burned his mouth a bit.

“I mean, I just heated it back up, but you’re welcome,” Nezumi said. He snorted when Shion gasped from the heat of the soup, trying quite unsuccessfully to hold back a laugh.

“You dummy, I told you it was hot.”

Shion blushed even more and then blew on his soup, avoiding Nezumi’s eyes. _Did he just forget about what happened?_ he thought. He glanced at Nezumi again; the dark-haired boy was nonchalantly eating his soup, looking as calm and composed as ever. _Oh well_ , Shion thought, shaking his head and taking another bite of his soup, _I guess everything’s fine then._

“What’s that look for?”

“H-huh? What look?”

“You just got this big smile on your face.”

“Oh,” Shion said, not realizing he had been smiling. “I guess I’m just happy to be here, eating dinner with you.”

“Aw, don’t get all sappy on me,” Nezumi smirked, but he had a slight blush on his cheeks.

Shion grinned. “Like you aren’t a big softy yourself.”

Nezumi frowned, his blush increasing. “I am not!”

Shion laughed, and the two finished dinner, bantering back and forth like an old married couple, laughing as they teased each other.

After dinner they headed back to Shion’s room to hang out for the evening. “What do you wanna do?” Nezumi asked, standing in the middle of the room, his back to the wall opposite Shion’s bed. “We can read some more of Hamlet if you want to.”

Shion stopped to think about what they should do and froze as the realization dawned on him. _Nezumi and I...we’re alone in my room...and no one else is in the house...It’s just me and Nezumi, in my room._ Shion couldn’t stand it anymore; these thoughts had been running around in his mind since they got home, and being alone in his bedroom was just too much. “Hmmm...I don’t know…” he said, pacing over towards Nezumi. “I’m...sort of still thinking about earlier today...” Shion murmured, now standing right in front of Nezumi.

Nezumi finally caught onto what Shion had been thinking about all evening. _Oh. Oh shit._ He was still caught off guard by Shion’s actions, however. _Shion doesn’t usually act like this though...I’m usually the one who- who starts it, not Shion._ Nezumi swallowed, nervous. “Uh, y-you mean, uh, t-the MarioKart?” He knew that wasn’t what Shion meant, but he didn’t know what to do; he wasn’t in control of the situation this time.

Shion loosely draped his arms around Nezumi’s neck and shot him a glare, knowing full well that Nezumi knew what he meant.

Nezumi’s heart sped up as Shion got closer to him. He got Shion’s look and knew he couldn’t talk around this anymore. _I don’t know what to do...I don’t know what I want...Is he waiting for me? Or for a sign from me? An ‘okay’?_ “S-Shion…” Nezumi whispered.


	16. First Times...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( smut warning just so y'all know! oh gosh im so nervous putting this up /.\ disclaimer: i havent written smut before so if this is awful im really sorry /.\ i hope it's okay, as always thanks for the kudos and comments, they really mean a lot! ))

Shion heard Nezumi whisper his name and couldn’t hold back anymore. “Nezumi,” he breathed, and then he was kissing Nezumi again, not rough this time, but passionate, intense. His arms were still wrapped around Nezumi’s neck; he felt Nezumi wrap his arms around his back. Shion pulled his head back from their kiss and looked up at Nezumi from under his eyelashes. “Is this...okay?” he asked, so softly he wasn’t sure if Nezumi could even hear him.

Nezumi felt Shion pull back from their kiss and found himself wishing he hadn’t, wishing he was still kissing him. He heard Shion and looked down at Shion’s beautiful, almost seductive face, his half-closed eyes, his soft, full lips. He nodded, unable to speak. _Yes, Shion_ , he thought. _This is perfect._

Shion saw Nezumi’s nod and a small smile danced on his lips. He pulled Nezumi back in for another kiss. He moved his lips from Nezumi’s to his cheek, his jaw line, then moved down his neck, kissing Nezumi’s smooth skin gently as he went.

Nezumi sighed as Shion kissed his neck. _Fuck..._ He felt Shion’s lips move down his neck; felt Shion’s hand reach up and pull the neck of his T-shirt down a bit; felt Shion pressing kisses along his collarbone. Nezumi shivered at the brush of Shion’s lips. “Shion…” he breathed; his arms were still wrapped around Shion’s back, and he gripped Shion’s shirt tighter.

Shion felt Nezumi grab him tighter and heard him whisper his name. _Shit_ , he thought, feeling himself get even hotter, _that’s just made it worse..._ Shion pulled his mouth from Nezumi’s collarbone and looked up at him. Nezumi’s eyes were closed, and he was breathing hard, same as Shion. _Goddammit, you’re too beautiful Nezumi...I just want all of you for myself._

Nezumi felt Shion pull back and looked down and saw Shion staring at him. _Why did you stop?_ he thought. “Shion?”

Shion was brought out of his thoughts by Nezumi’s voice. “Nezumi, I…” He looked away from the other boy for a moment, then looked back, staring right into his shimmering gray eyes. “I want you to tell me if you want me to stop.”

Nezumi was surprised and confused. “What?”

“You have to promise me that you’ll tell me if you want me to stop. Okay?” Shion’s face was serious.

Nezumi swallowed hard and nodded. “I- I promise,” he said, a little afraid of what was going to happen next. He wasn’t used to not being the one in control of the situation.

Shion let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and gave Nezumi a small smile. Nezumi’s face flushed and he looked away, and Shion had to hold back a laugh. “You’re so shy all of a sudden,” he teased, a mischievous look on his face.

Nezumi blushed even more and scowled at Shion. “I am not, I’m just…” He didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

Shion laughed lightly at that. “It’s ok, Nezumi,” he said, still a bit teasingly. “You can’t be cool all the time.” As Nezumi was about to protest, Shion kissed him again, long and slow and deep. He felt Nezumi kissing him back, felt his arms around his back, felt Nezumi’s beating heart against his own, and felt himself filled to the brim with desire for the boy wrapped in his arms.

Nezumi shifted his position, his legs getting tired from standing in one spot for so long, and as he did so one of his legs pressed between Shion’s legs, against his crotch. Shion let out a small gasp and Nezumi could feel how hard he was. “Shit, Shion…” he whispered, looking at the flushed face of the white-haired boy he was holding.

Shion looked up at Nezumi, panting slightly. _I can’t do this anymore_ , he thought. _I give in._ He pressed his lips against Nezumi’s, rougher this time, and backed Nezumi up against the wall behind them. They slid down the wall until Nezumi was sitting on the floor, Shion straddling him, like how they had been sitting on the couch just this morning. Shion reached his hands down and began to tug Nezumi’s shirt up, and Nezumi leaned forward off the wall, letting Shion pull his shirt up all the way over his head. Shion dropped the T-shirt to the side and stared at Nezumi’s bare chest, touching his fingertips to it gently. Nezumi’s skin shivered under Shion’s touch and he looked up at Shion, his heart beating rapidly. Shion was still looking down at Nezumi’s chest, his hand resting on it lightly, as if he was afraid that the smooth, pale skin would break under his touch.

Nezumi reached out, lifting Shion’s shirt up, and Shion raised his arms so Nezumi could pull it up and over Shion’s head, baring his chest as well. Shion felt Nezumi brush his fingers along the scar on Shion’s chest and Shion was reminded of the other night, the last time Nezumi had run his hand along Shion’s scar. _God, Nezumi...You keep doing this to me…_ he thought, feeling even hotter, even more turned on. Shion leaned forward again and kissed Nezumi hard, his hands cupping Nezumi’s face. He felt Nezumi’s hand on the back of his head, his other arm wrapped around Shion’s back. Shion pulled his face back from Nezumi’s just barely, and the two stared into each other’s eyes for a minute, panting, before Shion pressed his mouth against Nezumi’s neck once more, just under his jaw line. Nezumi sighed, head tilted up, as Shion kissed his neck, moving down from just under his jaw, down along the side of his neck, to his collarbone, which he placed little kisses along softly. Shion moved his mouth back up onto Nezumi’s neck, kissing it harder, sucking on it and biting it, and he heard Nezumi try to stifle a moan.

Shion slid one of his hands down from Nezumi’s chest down to his hipbone, which he lightly traced a finger over, feeling Nezumi’s skin quiver at his touch. Shion slipped his hand over from Nezumi’s hipbone to the top of his jeans and began to fiddle with the fly button, trying to unbutton it with one hand.

Nezumi gasped when he felt Shion’s hand on his jeans and pulled back from Shion, reaching one of his hands down and grasping Shion’s wrist. _Shit._

Shion pulled back from Nezumi as well and moved his hand off of Nezumi’s jeans, resting it on his thigh. “Are you okay?”

Nezumi tried to collect his thoughts, stammering out an unconvincing answer. “Uh, what? Uh, I mean, y-yeah I am...”

“Do you want me to stop?” Shion asked. “You promised you would tell me if you wanted me to stop.”

“No!” Nezumi answered quickly, then blushed, embarrassed, and tried to cover up his exclamation. “Uh, n-no it’s fine, we don’t...we don’t have to stop. Unless, like, you want to…”

Shion just stared at Nezumi for a second. _Unless I want to? You idiot, I started this remember? Of course I don’t want to stop, you’re the one that was acting uncertain. But whatever, if you say you don’t want to stop..._ A small, sly smile played on Shion’s lips. “Well, I guess I can pick up where I left off then,” he said, and pressed his mouth on Nezumi’s neck again, sucking it and biting it once more. He slipped his hand back to Nezumi’s jean button, successfully unbuttoning it, and then also unzipped Nezumi’s fly, but then paused for a second, wanting to make sure Nezumi was okay with that.

Nezumi was breathing sharply as Shion undid his pants, thoughts running back and forth in his mind, alternating between _I haven’t done this before, I’m sort of afraid_ and _Holy fucking hell Shion is really hot and he is trying to take off my pants and I am fucking turned on holy fuck._ Nezumi felt Shion unzip his pants and tensed up a little again, but then felt Shion pause and realized that he was probably going to ask Nezumi if he was okay again.

Nezumi was right. Shion felt Nezumi tense up and leaned back a little so he could look Nezumi in the eyes. As he was about to ask Nezumi if he was really alright with this, Nezumi reached his hand out over to Shion’s fly and quickly and easily undid the button.

Shion inhaled sharply in surprise, caught off guard by Nezumi’s sudden move. He felt Nezumi unzip his fly, but then he stopped, his hand just hovering over Shion’s crotch.

Nezumi unzipped Shion’s fly and paused, uncertain of himself and of what Shion wanted and how far he was willing to go. Both boys just sat there for a minute, still, breathing heavily. Shion’s left hand rested at the back of Nezumi’s neck, fingers woven through his hair that was starting to fall out of its ponytail; his right hand was resting on Nezumi’s hip. Nezumi’s left hand was still holding onto Shion’s right arm, and his right hand hovered over Shion’s fly, seemingly frozen in place.

Nezumi broke the silence, stammering, “Shion...I don’t- Do you want- I mean- ” He stared at his hand poised over Shion’s open fly.

“Nezumi,” Shion cut Nezumi off and grabbed his wrist. “Here,” he said, and guided Nezumi’s hand onto his crotch, his breath catching as he felt the weight of Nezumi’s hand.

Nezumi’s eyes widened as Shion placed his hand on his groin. Nezumi could feel how hard Shion was, even under his clothes, and he slightly pushed on where he could feel Shion’s dick through his jeans.

Shion’s hand that was rested on Nezumi’s hip tightened its grip when he felt Nezumi press on his dick, and Shion leaned forward, resting his head on Nezumi’s shoulder, and tried to contain a moan. _Shit...Nezumi…_ He couldn’t speak, could only hope Nezumi would understand, would keep going. _Don’t...don’t stop...Nezumi…_

Nezumi felt Shion’s grip on him tighten and heard Shion’s poorly contained moan and took that to mean that he could keep going. He moved both of his hands to Shion’s hips and tugged at his jeans, trying to pull them down as much as he could. Shion wrapped his arms around Nezumi’s back, and as he pulled himself closer to Nezumi, he sat up more, raising his hips and making it easier for Nezumi to tug his jeans down partially.

Nezumi felt Shion pull himself closer to him. He managed to pull Shion’s pants down so they were sitting just below his hip bones. Nezumi paused for a moment, staring at Shion’s much more obvious dick under his underwear, hesitant and nervous.

“Nezumi…” Shion breathed, his lips brushing Nezumi’s ear.

That was all it took for Nezumi’s horniness to outweigh his nervousness. He reached out and touched Shion’s stomach, felt Shion shiver at his delicate touch, and lightly dragged his fingers down to the band of Shion’s underwear. _Shion…_ Nezumi thought. _Am I really...doing this?_ He heard Shion’s quick, shallow breathing, felt his warm breath on his neck. _He’s nervous too...Shion, I’m here with you…_ Nezumi carefully slipped his fingers into Shion’s underwear.

Shion felt scared. But more than he felt scared, he felt hot, and hard, and more desirous for Nezumi’s touch. He shivered at the gentle brush of Nezumi’s fingers on his skin, and he realized that Nezumi’s hands were shaking slightly. _I’m not the only one afraid_ , he thought. Shion felt Nezumi slip his fingers into his underwear and held his breath, his grip on Nezumi’s shoulder tightening.

Nezumi felt Shion grip his shoulder and knew he was scared too. He reached his left arm up and around Shion’s back, holding him close and trying to reassure him with his embrace. Nezumi took a deep breath and slipped his right hand all the way into Shion’s underwear. His fingers found Shion’s dick and he ran them along it, dragging them gently, slowly, along his cock.

Shion’s eyes widened when he felt Nezumi’s hand on his dick and he gasped, clinging even more tightly to Nezumi without realizing it.

Nezumi felt Shion tense up and squeeze him tighter. “Shion,” he muttered, “you’re gonna choke me if you hold me any tighter.”

Shion heard Nezumi and realized how tense he was. “Sorry,” he said, taking a deep breath and relaxing his hold on Nezumi.

Nezumi stayed still. “Shion…are you- ”

“Don’t stop,” Shion interrupted Nezumi. “Nezumi...don’t stop,” he repeated, his voice barely a whisper.

Nezumi smiled. “Your wish is my command, my prince,” he said, and again stroked his fingers along Shion’s dick.

Shion moaned again, not trying to hold it back this time, the sound muffled as he buried his face in Nezumi’s neck.

Nezumi heard Shion’s moan, felt his hot breath on his neck. He wrapped his fingers around Shion’s cock, starting from the base and pulling it slowly, gently, up to the tip. Again and again he caressed Shion’s dick, rubbing it up and down, as Shion moaned and panted into his shoulder.

Shion couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, could only feel the touch of Nezumi’s hand on his dick, the steady caress of his delicate fingers up and down Shion’s cock. He gasped as he felt Nezumi stop stroking him and drag a finger across the head of Shion’s dick. His right hand’s grip on Nezumi’s shoulder tightened and Shion was sure his fingers must be digging into Nezumi’s skin, but he couldn’t help it. “You like that?” he heard Nezumi whisper, and Shion groaned as Nezumi once again rubbed the tip of his dick. “N-Nezumi,” Shion managed to mumble between his heavy breaths. He could feel himself close to climaxing. “Nezumi, I’m…” Shion cut himself off with a louder, lower moan as Nezumi lightly squeezed the head of his cock.

Nezumi could barely hear Shion whisper his name as he rubbed the tip of his dick. Shion moaned and Nezumi could practically feel the throbbing of his dick, how close he was to climaxing. He pressed Shion’s head and Shion moaned from somewhere deep in his throat, a low, almost guttural sound. “You can come, Shion,” Nezumi whispered, turning his head towards Shion’s so that his lips brushed Shion’s ear. “Are you gonna come, Shion? I know you want to.”

Shion shivered when he felt Nezumi’s lips softly against his ear. “I- ah!” Shion gasped as he felt Nezumi softly bite his ear. He felt Nezumi start stroking him again and he couldn’t hold back anymore; he came, moaning, breathing heavily, clutching Nezumi as he arched his back in pleasure. “N-Nezumi…” he muttered, panting. Shion loosened his grip on the other boy, pulling back so he could look at him. Nezumi’s face looked as flushed as Shion’s felt, and he was breathing heavily as well. Shion looked down at Nezumi’s hand, covered in his cum. “I’m sorry...Nezumi, I- ”

Nezumi shook his head. “Shion. I said you could come, didn’t I?” Nezumi paused. Shion was still quiet, looking down, away from Nezumi’s eyes. “Shion...was it…” Nezumi mumbled, flushing even more - if that was possible - in embarrassment. “Was it...good?”

Shion looked up, surprised by Nezumi’s question. Now Nezumi was the one avoiding Shion’s eyes, and a small smile appeared on Shion’s face as he remembered that Nezumi, too, had been nervous about this. “Yeah, Nezumi…it was good,” Shion said softly. “No, it was better than good, it was…” Shion searched for a word that could come at least a little close to what he was feeling. “It was amazing.”

Nezumi finally looked up at Shion, saw his glowing cheeks and sparkling, deep red eyes. He couldn’t help but smile back.

Shion went to give Nezumi a kiss, placing one of his hands on Nezumi’s upper thigh as he leaned forward. Nezumi gasped sharply, letting out a small, short groan. Shion looked at him in concern. “Are you...alright?”

The blush in Nezumi’s cheeks that had been fading rushed back and he quickly looked away from Shion’s eyes. “Yeah, I’m...I’m fine,” he muttered, but he couldn’t ignore the intense throbbing of his own dick. “It’s nothing…We should go get cleaned up…”

Shion furrowed his brow and stared at Nezumi. “Yeah. We should do that…” He looked down at Nezumi’s hand again, still feeling kind of bad about it, and then noticed that Nezumi’s pants were still unbuttoned. “Oh, Nezumi, your pants…” Shion reached to fix them and then realized what was bothering Nezumi - he was hard as fuck. “Nezumi...you- ”

“I-it’s fine!” Nezumi interrupted, blushing furiously. “L-let’s just go clean up, don’t worry about it.”

Shion didn’t move from his spot straddling Nezumi. “No,” he said.

“W-why not?”

Shion looked Nezumi straight in the eyes. “We’re not done.”


	17. ...and Second Times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( hey guys, sorry for the long time it took to update. ive been really busy and just havent been able to get around to updating. i was also hesitant to update because i still dont have the next chapter planned out or written out at all, so itll probably be a while before the next chapter comes out. school's just been getting more intense, and midterms are coming up, so i havent had a whole lot of free time to write. ill try to work on the next chapter when i can, but just so yall know, it probably will be a little while before the next one goes up. i hope yall enjoy this chapter (more smut god save me /.\\) and thank you so much for all of your support and patience <3 ))

Nezumi just stared at Shion. “Shion, you don’t have to- ”

“I know I don’t have to,” Shion interrupted.

“T-then just don’t worry about it,” Nezumi tried to push Shion’s hand away from his jeans.

“Nezumi. Do you really not want to do this?” Shion asked seriously. “I won’t do it if you don’t want to. Do you want me to stop?”

Nezumi hesitated, stammering, “I-I mean...it’s not that…” He trailed off, not meeting Shion’s eyes.

“Then let me do it,” Shion said, and reached for Nezumi’s fly again, only for Nezumi to once more reach out a hand to stop him.

Shion sighed, exasperated. “Nezumi. What is going on? Will you just tell me what you want instead of doing this back and forth thing?”

Nezumi’s mind was an endless loop of the same two thoughts, alternating between _I want this so, so bad, I want Shion to touch me, to feel me_ , and _I’m so fucking afraid, I can’t do this, I don’t want Shion to know how scared I am_. He resorted to his typical, annoyed self that he hid behind for self-protection, demanding, “Why are you so insistent about it?”

Shion was very frustrated now because he knew that Nezumi was only acting this way because he was too proud to admit that he might be afraid of something. “Because I don’t want to be the only one who gets any pleasure out of this!” Shion knew he was blushing, but his face was set and he stared Nezumi in the eyes, irritated with Nezumi’s all too familiar standoffish behavior.

Nezumi was shocked by Shion’s response and sat there in silence for a minute. “Shion…” he said quietly. “I...I didn’t…” _What am I doing? What am I trying to say? Yes, I want him to do this, to touch me, I want to feel him...Why can’t I just say it?_

Shion’s frowning face was already gone, replaced by a slightly embarrassed and yet also determined look. “Nezumi…” he said softly, “I want to make you feel good too…”

Nezumi blushed furiously, but as he heard Shion quietly speak those words, he couldn’t help it anymore - he was broken down. _This boy could get me to do anything for him when he looks at me like that_ , Nezumi thought. He didn’t say anything to Shion, just took a deep, slightly shaky breath and let go of Shion’s hand. He met eyes with Shion, who was looking at him expectantly, waiting for more confirmation that he could continue. Nezumi blushed and looked to the side, too embarrassed to say anything out loud. _Yes, Shion…_ he thought, hoping Shion would understand. _You can keep going. I won’t stop you this time._

Shion felt Nezumi remove his hand from Shion’s, saw him blush and look away and, knowing Nezumi, took this to mean it was okay for him to continue. He reached once more for Nezumi’s fly, which was already unzipped and unbuttoned, so Shion grabbed instead the waistband of Nezumi’s pants and tried to tug them down. It was proving difficult, however, since Nezumi was sitting on the floor. “Nezumi,” Shion said, “lift up your hips a little.”

Nezumi hesitated for a second before pushing himself up off the ground slightly, enough for Shion to tug his jeans down a bit. He set himself back down on the floor and leaned against the wall, looking away from Shion, his body tense with nerves and anticipation.

Shion could tell Nezumi was incredibly nervous and super tensed up. _How can I get him to relax?_ Shion thought. _I know, I’ll just tease him so he forgets he’s nervous._ A small smile played on Shion’s lips. _And then he’ll also be easier to catch off guard._ Shion sighed overdramatically. “Nezumi. You’re ruining the mood.”

“W-what?” Nezumi said, confused.

“You’re like a statue, so stiff and cold. Not romantic at all.” Shion sighed again, exaggeratedly, trying to sound mildly annoyed and disappointed.

Nezumi finally looked back at Shion, frowning at the white-haired boy’s teasing. “Hey, that is not true! I am perfectly relaxed, thank you very much, and must I remind you that just a few minutes ago, you were the one who was clinging onto me and- ” Nezumi stopped mid-sentence and gasped as he felt Shion’s fingers brush against his dick. It was quick and he wasn’t expecting it, distracted by Shion’s taunts and his smug face. Nezumi’s breath caught when he felt Shion’s touch, and his hand that was resting on Shion’s leg curled into a tight fist.

Shion tried to hide the satisfied smile on his face when his plan worked, but Nezumi’s glare was proof that he did not hide it very well. “Aw, don’t glare at me, Nezumi,” Shion murmured, bringing his lips close to Nezumi’s ear. “After all, isn’t this what you wanted?” He stroked his fingers lightly along Nezumi’s dick, hearing Nezumi’s retort cut short as he gasped again in response to Shion’s touch. “Hmm…that’s what I thought,” Shion hummed and leaned back, looking at Nezumi’s face; the dark-haired boy had his eyes closed and his eyebrows furrowed, and he looked like he was trying not to make any more noises - no gasps or moans or groans. “Nezumi,” Shion said, cupping the other boy’s chin in his free hand.

Nezumi’s teeth were clenched and he had squeezed his eyes closed, trying not to betray just how horny Shion was making him feel. He felt Shion’s hand under his chin and he opened his eyes, looking up at the white-haired boy. “S-Shion?” There was a mischievous smile on Shion’s face that reminded Nezumi of earlier, when Shion had started coming onto him. _Oh god...What is he going to do to me…_ Nezumi could feel his heart beating fast, afraid but also more excited now about the uncertainty of what was going to happen.

Shion stared into Nezumi’s glimmering gray eyes, drawn into them, almost mesmerized. “Nezumi, you are so beautiful.” Shion saw Nezumi’s eyes widen when he said this and he laughed a little at Nezumi’s surprise before pulling him in for a kiss. Shion pressed his mouth against Nezumi’s, feeling first his soft lips, then opening his mouth against Nezumi’s and slipping his tongue inside Nezumi’s mouth, tangling it with Nezumi’s own. He could feel Nezumi’s pushing back against him, and their kissing got rougher, teeth clinking together, biting each other’s lips, breaking apart for a few seconds to catch their breath before diving back in again.

Nezumi felt Shion’s mouth against his, felt his tongue pushing inside his mouth, and kissed Shion back hard. This seemed to encourage Shion, leading him to kiss Nezumi harder, more roughly, and Nezumi loved it. They had never kissed like this before, so rawly, so hungrily. Nezumi wrapped an arm around Shion’s back, his other one wrapped around Shion’s neck with his hand tangled in his white hair. He felt Shion’s hand move from under his chin to behind his head, felt him wrap his fingers in Nezumi’s dark hair, pulling on it slightly as they made out. Nezumi’s eyes flew open and he gasped, breaking his mouth away from Shion’s, as he felt Shion’s other hand starting rubbing his dick, sliding up and down its length.

Shion felt Nezumi pull away when he started caressing his cock again and he looked at the long-haired boy panting in front of him. _Shit he’s hot,_ Shion thought. He stopped stroking Nezumi’s dick for a second. “Nezumi…”

Nezumi felt Shion stop rubbing him and heard him say his name. He looked up at the boy straddling him. “Y-yes?”

Shion gazed into Nezumi’s eyes for a minute and then leaned forward, his lips almost touching Nezumi’s. He could feel Nezumi’s lips quivering, aching for Shion to close that small gap and kiss him again. He didn’t, instead whispering, “Nezumi...I want you to say my name.”

Nezumi could feel Shion’s lips brushing against his own as he spoke and it drove him crazy, wishing Shion would just press them against his again. “What?” he asked, not fully processing Shion’s words.

“I want you to say my name.”

Nezumi furrowed his brow, confused. “What do you m- Ah!” He interrupted himself with a sharp inhale as he felt Shion’s hand on his dick again. Shion was dragging two fingers up the underside of Nezumi’s cock almost painfully slowly. “Mmmmm,” Nezumi moaned, his back arching slightly.

Shion kissed Nezumi lightly on the lips as he stroked him, then murmured once more, “I want you to say my name, Nezumi.” He heard Nezumi moan. “Say it, Nezumi,” he breathed.

Nezumi’s breath was shaky as Shion rubbed him again. “S-Shion…” he whispered.

Shion heard Nezumi whisper his name and smiled roguishly. “Say it again, louder.”

Nezumi’s face burned and he was about to protest, then felt Shion’s thumb rubbing just below the tip of his cock. Nezumi writhed in pleasure, rocking his hips slightly, and moaned Shion’s name between heavy breaths. “Shion...Hah...hah...S-Shionnnn…”

A small smile played on Shion’s lips as he heard Nezumi groan his name. “That’s it, Nezumi,” he said, panting a bit as well. He felt Nezumi rocking his hips, pushing his dick into Shion’s hand. _Shit...he’s really hot...I can feel him trembling._ Shion stroked the underside of Nezumi’s dick again, stopping just below the tip and tracing his fingers all the way around in a circle right below Nezumi’s head. He felt Nezumi thrust his hips up again, moaning and panting as he squirmed under Shion’s hand.

“Shion- I- ah, hah, I’m- ” Nezumi tried to speak between his panting and groaning, trying to think through the pleasure Shion was giving him. “I’m- I’m gonna- ”

Shion heard Nezumi’s broken speech and knew what he was trying to say; he could feel the built up pressure within Nezumi’s cock, just waiting to be released. Shion leaned his head forward, his lips against Nezumi’s ear, and told Nezumi what he himself had said to Shion. “You can come, Nezumi.” Shion felt Nezumi shiver. “Are you gonna come, Nezumi?” Shion slowly, sensually licked the side of Nezumi’s ear. “I know you want to,” he breathed, and he finally rubbed the tip of Nezumi’s cock, stroking its head quickly, again and again.

Nezumi shuddered as Shion licked his ear and a loud groan escaped his lips. He felt Shion massaging the tip of his dick and couldn’t contain himself; he arched his back, thrusting his hips forward as he came with a loud moan. When he finished climaxing he leaned back against the wall, panting, feeling hot and out of breath. “Shion…” he whispered, and he looked up to see the white-haired boy staring down at his hand. Nezumi looked down at Shion’s hand as well, saw it covered with his own cum, just as Nezumi’s was covered with Shion’s cum. “Shion…” he muttered again, slowly regaining his breath.

Shion stared at his hand. _Nezumi’s cum…_ he thought, looking at the hot white fluid that coated his hand. _This is...Nezumi’s cum…_ He looked up when he heard Nezumi whisper his name, pulled out of his reverie. Nezumi’s face was flushed and he was breathing hard. His grey eyes were looking up at Shion, gazing at him with a slightly dazed look. Shion tried to hold back a smug smile. “Well, I would ask you how it was, but it doesn’t look like I need to.”

Nezumi’s face reddened and he shot a glare at Shion before looking away. “Shut up,” he muttered, embarrassed at how he must have been looking at Shion. He felt Shion’s fingers gently tilt Nezumi’s head so he was looking at Shion again, and he closed his eyes as Shion kissed him, a sweet, gentle kiss.

Shion laughed a little when Nezumi told him to shut up, then reached a hand out and turned Nezumi’s face towards his. _I guess I should stop picking on him now_ , he thought, pressing a tender kiss to the other boy’s lips. “I’m just teasing,” Shion said softly, smiling at Nezumi’s annoyed and embarrassed expression.

Nezumi huffed at Shion but wasn’t feeling as flushed anymore. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, but couldn’t help but smile back at the happy, red-eyed boy in front of him. He felt the stickiness on his fingers and a slight blush crept back into his cheeks. “C’mon, Shion, we need to go clean up.”

Shion’s face turned a light shade of pink as well. “Oh, y-yeah,” he stammered. He climbed off of Nezumi and stood up, then glanced over at the bathroom. “Oh…”

“What is it?” Nezumi asked, standing up as well. He followed Shion’s eyes to the bathroom. The single bathroom. With one shower. “R-right, uh, you can shower first,” he said.

“But, Nezumi, you- ”

“It’s fine,” Nezumi stopped Shion. “I’ll just...use the sink, and then shower after you.” Shion didn’t move. Nezumi sighed, slightly irritated. “The longer you stand there, the longer I have to wait to shower, Shion.”

“Ah, um, sorry,” Shion mumbled and quickly went into the bathroom. He pulled of his pants and underwear, throwing them in a heap on the floor, and climbed into the shower. Shion watched the warm water run over his hand, washing away Nezumi’s cum, and his face burned as he thought about what had just happened. _Did I really just...do that? And Nezumi, too, he…_ Shion jumped as he heard a knock on the door. “Oh, y-you can come in,” he called. He heard Nezumi enter the bathroom, could see his silhouette through the shower curtain. Shion watched Nezumi’s outline, holding his breath, his heart beating fast. He heard the sink turn on and, after a couple minutes, turn back off, and watched as Nezumi left the bathroom. Shion let out his breath, sighing heavily. _God_ , he thought, grabbing the soap, _Nezumi makes me do things I never thought I would do...I just sort of...lose control around him sometimes._ Shion finished washing himself and turned the shower off. He stepped out, grabbed a towel, and dried off before realizing that he hadn’t brought any clothes in the bathroom to change into. “Idiot,” he muttered to himself, and wrapping the towel around his waist, he stepped out of the bathroom. “I’m done,” he said as he came into the bedroom.

Nezumi looked up as Shion stepped out of the bathroom. He blushed a little when he saw Shion just in his towel. “I’m gonna go in then,” he replied to Shion, moving towards the bathroom. _Ah, wait, clothes._ Nezumi grabbed some sweatpants and a pair of underwear. “I’m not gonna forget my clothes like someone,” he smirked at Shion.

“Oh, shut up and go shower,” Shion replied, his face flushing.

Nezumi laughed and walked into the bathroom. He got undressed and tossed his clothes on the floor next to Shion’s and put his clean clothes on top of the sink counter. Nezumi stepped into the shower, closing his eyes and leaning his head back as the refreshing water poured over him. He started washing himself as he thought about what had just happened. _Shion was…_ He shook his head, a slight blush touching his cheeks. _I’ve never seen Shion like that before. It completely threw me off. But…_ A small smile crossed Nezumi’s face. _I can’t say it wasn’t enjoyable…_

Shion looked up when he heard the bathroom door open. He had changed while Nezumi was in the shower, throwing on a clean pair of boxers and pajama pants. Nezumi walked into the bedroom, his hair down and still a little damp, wearing a pair of sweatpants. Shion’s cheeks turned a faint pink as he looked at Nezumi’s bare chest and he looked away from the other boy. “Hey,” he said, looking down at his hands folded in his lap.

Nezumi looked at the white-haired boy sitting on the bed. He could see the slight tinge of color in Shion’s cheeks and smiled. _He’s so cute._ Nezumi walked over to the hamper in Shion’s room and tossed his dirty clothes in. “Hey,” he replied. “Do you plan on leaving your clothes on the floor in the bathroom or did you want me to get them for you, Your Majesty?”

Shion looked up and saw Nezumi smirking at him. “I can get them,” he frowned at the other boy’s teasing, “I just forgot.” Shion jumped off the bed and grabbed his clothes from out the bathroom, throwing them into the hamper as well. Nezumi was sitting on the bed now, leaning against the headboard, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed. _He really is beautiful_ , Shion smiled. He climbed into the bed next to Nezumi and leaned against him, resting his head on Nezumi’s shoulder.

Nezumi opened his eyes and looked down at Shion laying against him. He could feel Shion’s skin against his chest and his cheeks flushed lightly. He brought one arm down and wrapped it around Shion, holding him against himself. He felt Shion reach up and rest a hand on his chest and Nezumi’s heart skipped a beat. He tilted his head down and pressed his lips to the top of Shion’s head; he could smell the sweet scent of the shampoo on Shion’s hair. Shion nestled into him and Nezumi closed his eyes, wishing they could stay like this forever. After a few minutes, he felt Shion’s breathing become slow and even, and Nezumi knew he was getting sleepy. “Shion,” he murmured into Shion’s hair.

“Mmm?” Shion had his eyes closed, resting against Nezumi, a hand laid gently on his chest. He heard Nezumi say his name and it drew him out of his drowsiness just a bit.

“Let’s go to bed,” Nezumi said. He felt Shion nod his head slightly, but then he didn’t move off of Nezumi. “Shion, come on, you gotta move.” Nezumi gently shook Shion’s shoulder, trying to wake him up enough to get him into bed. Shion furrowed his brow and grunted, still not moving. Nezumi sighed. “How come you always get to fall asleep and I have to put you to bed, hmm?”

At that, Shion sat up more and looked up at Nezumi, making a pouty face at him. “Hey, that’s not- ”

“Don’t you dare say that’s not true,” Nezumi interrupted. “This is at least the fourth time this has happened.” He poked Shion’s nose. “Now, do I have to tuck you in tonight, my prince?”

Shion’s cheeks turned red and he pushed Nezumi as he sat up. “Sh-shut up! I don’t need you to ‘tuck me in’,” he said, scowling at the other boy.

Nezumi laughed. “Calm down, I’m just kidding around.” He stretched his arms and yawned. “I am getting sorta tired too though. We really should go to bed.”

Shion’s blush receded and he nodded, yawning as well. “Yeah, we should.” He scooted over some to leave more room for Nezumi and laid down, pulling the covers up over himself. “Well? Do I need to tuck you in?”

“Aw, are you mad at me?” Nezumi said, smirking. He switched the bedside lamp off and slipped under the covers as well, and moved closer to Shion. Nezumi wrapped his arms around the white-haired boy and pulled him close to himself, spooning him. “You know you can’t stay mad at me,” Nezumi whispered, nuzzling the back of Shion’s head.

Shion blushed as he felt Nezumi pull him closer; he could feel Nezumi’s bare chest against his back and a slight chill ran down his spine. He sighed. “Yeah, I know…” Shion reached his hands up and twined his fingers between Nezumi’s. “It’s so annoying,” he said jokingly.

“Hmm...I don’t know, it’s pretty nice for me,” Nezumi murmured, smiling as he felt Shion lace his fingers through his own. He brushed his lips against the back of Shion’s neck, placing a soft kiss on the scar that wound around his body.

Shion shivered again as he felt Nezumi’s lips on the nape of his neck. He smiled and nestled into Nezumi’s embrace. “Good night, Nezumi. I love you.”

“Night, Shion,” Nezumi said. He hesitated, still not used to saying it, and added, “I...love you too.”

Shion’s smile grew wider as he heard Nezumi’s reply and he closed his eyes, content. The two boys drifted off to sleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( i know for this chapter and the last one, nezumi and shion might have seemed kind of 'out-of-character,' but i wanted to make their relationship more equal - like shion says in the original story - and i felt like having shion more 'in control' so to speak was a good way of doing that. i mean, there are definitely parts of the original story where shion is very much in charge, and since this au doesnt involve them infiltrating a high-security very dangerous place, i figured id have to do something else to show that haha. i personally feel like a lot of the time shion is not very 'in charge' or w/e just because he's more of a chill person than nezumi is, so he doesnt feel like he _needs_ to be in charge all the time, but there are definitely times where he wants to be bossy and mischievous, and tbh mischievous shion is SO much fun to write  >:P ))
> 
> (( TL;DR: i want to make their relationship more equal --> shion is more in charge sometimes, plus writing teasing, smug, sort-of-a-little-shit shion is really fun, so sorry if you dont really like this characterization of these two, but its gonna happen sometimes ~~and also its my fic so i mean i can kinda write them how i want to even if its a little different from the original characters plus this is an au so like they arent exactly the same anyways ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯~~ ))
> 
> (( also (sorry for all the addendums here at the end): dont ask me where Sweet Good Boy shion learned to do that shit, he probably read some books with sex scenes in them and copied those lmao XD ))


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